Birdcloud Subverts and Transcends Convention

I've seen plenty written about Birdcloud, the country duo known best for their lively, almost maniacal, performances but it's incredibly difficult to properly articulate exactly what they are. They aren't a comedy band but they are funny. They aren't intentionally controversial but they don't shy away from singing about questionable topics. They aren't romantically involved or downplaying the seriousness of LGBTQ relationships but they writhe on another on stage. In other words, it's complicated.

All that is to say that I found this Arkansas Times piece - Birdcloud Subverts and Transcends Convention - pretty damn close to the best representation of what they're doing. This is pretty perfect:

Having fun and partying are obviously important features to your songs, but you are also clearly making social commentary in them. Do you purposefully try to balance that out, or are you just making observations?

Kaset: Nuance is one of the first casualties of political conflict or social unrest. Our lyrics are nuanced, so there are multiple levels of partying to it. We have strong feelings about the hypocrisy and backwards thinking in the South, all the hatred in America, being a woman in this or any sphere, all kinds of stuff. But we're not gonna hit you over the head with it. You have to arrive at it through our fucked up performance. You may leave a show with an impression of it. Or you may leave with a hangover and a dumb smile on your face. By making lyrics dumb and party and the music style country, we are able to reach a lot of people other bands can't. Like playing an anti-capital punishment song in front of a state senator and for him to stop tapping his foot halfway through, that's a rare and important opportunity and it's one we get because our music is nuanced. And that's not saying a lot of our fans aren't geniuses, 'cause they fuckin' are. And I can say with confidence none of our fans are Republican state senators.

It's well worth a read through of the whole thing. And while you're at it, you may find a hint about an upcoming, unannounced, yk records release.