Music
Press
"Disguised as Birds is a ... brooding indie-rock outfit that gets lots ofmileage out of slashing postpunk
guitars, rubbery bass lines, and slamming, occasionally jazzy drums. The Milwaukee
foursome recently released SEEDS, made with increasingly ubiquitous local engineer Shane
Hochstetler of Bay View's Howl Street Recordings" - THE ONION
"This Milwaukee outfit trades in the sort of fumbly guitar surges that havemade Pinback's louder
stuff a favorite of hard rockers and brainiacs alike. Count the drum thunder and oceanic
vocals, and you've got a band that could do a fair impression of Canadian post-rock or angry
metal." - CNET
“The main thing that reeled me in though was the chance to watch Kevin DeMars play drums.
The guy’s a powerhouse, the kind of drummer that I could sit back and watch all day. Really,
it’s a solid band all around. They all exude energy as they play. At times the vocal interplay
reminded me of Fugazi, but I couldn’t shake the Giants Chair comparison out of my head.
When it comes to math-y indie rock, Disguised as Birds are sitting atop the local heap.� - Fan-Belt Milwaukee
"Disguised as Birds play their take onmodern style ROCKmayhemthat hadme thinking that this
was the offspring of (JESUS LIZARD) and (KYUSS). Now that's really saying something because
these guys were ON IT! and so was the crowd... sucking it all up and were left wanting more" - The Neus Subjex (Cincinnati, OH)
"Disguised As Birds... are sure to return us back to the post-postmodern age." - Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
"One of the loudest bands we've had. Don't tell them I said that." - WMSE 91.7
Discography
New Demons (EP) - Phratry Records, 2009
Seeds (Full-Length)- 2008
Disguised as Birds (Full-Length) - 2006
Currently, the song "Dancing Bear" is receiving radio play on 91.7 (WMSE) and 102.1 (WLUM) in Milwaukee, as well as being featured in prominent podcasts from OnMilwaukee.Com (Milwaukee), The Neus Subjex (Cincinnati, OH), Independent Rawk Show (Minneapolis, MN) and Novedades de Lengua Armada (Madrid, Spain).
Previously, "Highway at Night," "To The Streets!" and "Hawks" have also had airplay in Milwaukee on 91.7 (WMSE)
Disguised as Birds has had the pleasure of performing twice on the air live in 91.7 WMSE's studios, both in 2006 and 2008.
Photos
Bio
Disguised as Birds was born in 2004 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Although Disguised as Birds' indie rock sound tends to have a lot of "spacey" and "jammy" qualities, their bread and butter is original, explosive and heavy rock power that puts their overall approach on grounds close to that of Shiner, Regulator Watts, Jawbox, Shipping News, Juno, etc. Still, despite the artsy leanings, Disguised as Birds unquestionably has the vibe of a classic rock band. In spirit (if not in incessant riffing) they pack a great deal of SOUL into every measure of every tune.
At first conceived as a power trio (Kristopher Endicott: guitar/vocals, Tony Ciske; bass, and Christopher Bongers; drums), Disguised as Birds rehearsed and played out (in and around the Midwest) for a year before recording a full-length record with Shane Hochstetler (CALL ME LIGHTNING) in 2005. Looking to recreate the record's layered vocal harmonies live, the band recruited Chris Chuzles as a second vocalist - just in time to sing on five of the self-titled album's tracks. Chris Bongers then moved to Madrid, Spain to play with punk-rock band Los Bultacos, and later with Paul Collins of The Beat fame. So, The Birds added Milwaukee ace drummer Kevin DeMars to the fold.
The band returned to Howl Street Recordings to again work with Shane Hochstetler on their second and more incendiary record, SEEDS - in 2007. SEEDS is much more direct - the songs are structured and precise, while still maintaining the vibe of a band that isn't too careful with conventions.
The band is distinguished by both their willingness to avoid the usual moves and cliches of indie rock as well as their 'all out' and sometimes jazzy/jagged playing.
Links
