Les Big Byrd are a Swedish krautrock/psychedelic rock band from Stockholm. Their most notable album to date has been ''They Worshipped Cats''. That album however is not their best album to date. The best release from Les Big Byrd is probably the Liquid Sky EP, which they released back in 2015. This four track EP encompasses a pretty interesting selection of space rock, krautrock and psychedelic rock. The great thing about this short release has to be undoubtedly the different nature of all the songs.
The first track on the album is titled ''The Summer Ends Tonight'', and tends to mix krautrock and psychedelic rock. The track is extremely catchy and the vocals partly remind the famous indie rock band Kasabian. Of course Les Big Byrd do not venture in the pop rock realm as much as Kasabian. Yet the vocals do sound a bit similar. These vocals however work perfectly well and complement the melodic psychedelic rock quite well. The second song ''Dust Heads'' tends to be darker than the highly melodic and memorable song that preceded it. It also tends to work partly like an interlude towards the third track. The third track is called ''Liquid Sky'' and it reminds Tortoise a lot. This is of course a good thing, as the track is basically just a highly addictive fast krautrock bassline together with some dreamy space rock guitars. It is perhaps the best track on the album for me. Purely due to managing to build enchanting dreamy landscapes all throughout. The last track ''Roundhouse Rumble'' ventures in very similar directions, but isn't perhaps as good as ''Liquid Sky''.
The first album of Les Big Byrd did not particularly appeal to me and essentially passed me by. The Liquid Sky EP however is much better. It manages to be catchy, dreamy and throughly enjoyable from start to finish. It has its indie rock aspects, while it also has its repetitive krautrock aspects, and they all complement each other. A highly recommended album.
Some useful links:
Liquid Sky: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nKc_AOzGYUM
Discogs: https://www.discogs.com/artist/2412317-Les-Big-Byrd
