Last night we met Two Wounded Birds, of Margate, at the Bull and Gate in Kentish Town. The band were in town to promote their double A-Side single All We Wanna Do/Midnight Waves, which is released on the 18th April by Moshi Moshi. Their sound hearkens back to the golden era of rock n roll and pop: think The Tornadoes, Ricky Nelson and The Ronettes. The band played an intense set of two-minute gems, whilst Johnny Danger, the singer, held an anachronistic and sinister presence, which served to personify the bands dark sound.
We spoke with the band before the show:You’ve been branded as ‘surf-pop’ quite heavily. As your sound develops do you find yourself becoming frustrated with this label?
Johnny: That tags been around for a while, a lot of people use that. We’re not really making surf-pop. If you listen to us we’re much deeper than that.
Ally: I don’t really mind the tag, if people want to call us that they can.
Does your sound take inspiration from that genre?
Johnny: I’m into the late 50’s/early 60’s Beach Boys scene, it’s a really nice sound.
Has Margate influenced your fondness for it?
Johnny: Being by the sea helps.
Tom: We’re into all sorts of Americana really.
I think I can hear The Libertines in the guitars on the new single. Is that another band you’re in to?
Tom: Yeah, I love the Libertines but I think its more The Ramones. They love the whole New York thing. They did a really good cover of Stones’ Out of Time.
Ally: I think with The Ramones, we didn’t really listen to them until people said we sounded like them.
Your video is shot in Margate and you recorded in Rochester. Is this a conscious effort to endorse Kent’s music scene?
Tom: Yeah, it’s important to big up where your from, it’s a nice place.
Ally: We like having people involved who understand where we’re coming from. And we like helping out our friends.
Johnny: We’re really meticulous about where we record, we need to get the right sound. I think a lot of bands don’t think about that when they’re producing a record. With us, we really like that Phil Spector/Brian Wilson technique of making a record sound really big.
Ally: Our sound engineer, Jim Riley is really good.
You’ve just finished touring with The Drums. You must have some good anecdotes?
Johnny: Nothing we can share.
Tom: We’ve signed a contract!
Where’s next? Is this show part of a tour?
Johnny: No, we’re doing a couple of one off gigs, then we’re playing Camden Crawl.
Is there anything you want to say that hasn’t been said?
Tom: Buy the single, Midnight Waves, out on the 18th April.