What does MANBIRD! mean? Well, you could ask bassist Rich Vernon, but this is what he had to say about it: “I have no idea what it means. Ask Steve Hands; he came up with it. No, don’t ask him. He won’t know either. I can describe what MANBIRD! is though, It’s me discovering that Paul Smith is still writing songs, and playing guitar like Pete Townsend running out of patience with Tom Verlaine riffs. Me persuading him to sing and record, me bringing in Steve Hands to give it wings, and me bringing it back to Earth because I want people to hear this. And all in the kitchen because Smith won’t go in a studio.'”
MANBIRD! came about as the result of some chance meetings. Vernon and Hands met years ago in a band called The One while Vernon met vocalist Paul Smith some time ago when they were in the band Helter Skelter. Bringing them all together, they each brought with them a great deal of experience from playing in other projects from The Only Ones to The Band of Holy Joy to The Doctor’s Children. Putting together all their many years of experience, MANBIRD! became a sort of under-the-radar supergroup.
Today we’re spotlighting the new video for the song “Endless Suffering” by MANBIRD! With a sort of noisy brand of pop and surreal lyrics that toy with the sacrilegious, “Endless Suffering” is both blasphemous and delightful. With a trippy video that features a skateboarding Jesus and a crucifixion reenactment, the video hammers home (pun intended) the religious metaphor in a visceral fashion. Check out the video below.
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Photo courtesy of MANBIRD!
