WELSH WEDNESDAYS : #6 : BUZZARD BUZZARD BUZZARD

aka The Vinyl Villain incorporating Is This The Life?

Welsh Wednesday (and a bit of a gig review…)

Today we return to a band who featured in the Lockdown incarnation of Welsh Wednesday over at my place in July 2020…

#6: In My Egg by Buzzard Buzzard Buzzard

Back in part 2 of this Welsh Wednesday run, I featured CVC, a band who revel in the sounds of the 70s. This week, another lot who take their cue from that otherwise terrible decade – the fabulously named Buzzard Buzzard Buzzard who hail from our fine capital Cardiff. Their early material ploughed the furrows of glam rock, with the songs on their first EP and debut album ‘Backhand Deals’ wearing their influences so proudly on their sleeves, you’d be blinded by the glare of their gaudy flares and glittery make-up.

On the follow-up ‘Skinwalker’ though, things took a slightly darker turn, with songs about snarling beasts, depression and a malevolent Navajo witch. I think. Its riffs are fatter, heavier, louder – more Sabbath than Slade. Yet, for all that, it’s still a hell of a lot of fun and the tunes are still there. It’s one of my top albums of 2024.

MrsRobster and I caught Buzzard Buzzard Buzzard live just a couple weeks ago at the brilliant new Newport venue The Corn Exchange. They were every bit as good as I hoped they’d be. The disappointingly small crowd were treated to a lot of songs from the new record, but more than a handful of earlier tunes too, as well as new single Street Worship.

There’s a lot of energy in the Buzzards’ shows, and musically they’re on point. Interspersed with the songs were extended breaks of noise and feedback (which is always a major plus for me) and frontman Tom Rees’ wit (which at one point had MrsRobster and I creased up in tears.) It confirmed to me how, despite already having a Welsh Wednesday, they fully deserved another one.

So today’s track was the set’s second song and is a highlight from the latest album. It’s about how Tom struggled following the band’s touring and promotional duties around the first album. Physically and mentally exhausted, he started to withdraw into himself. It sounds like it would be a difficult listen, and in the hands of most bands it probably would be, but if you’re not humming In My Egg incessantly by lunchtime, I’ll scramble it and have it on toast.

mp3: In My Egg – Buzzard Buzzard Buzzard (from ‘Skinwalker’, 2024)

Here’s some footage of the Buzzards at a prestigious hometown show at Cardiff Castle from a couple years back. They still play this, ending their Newport set with it.

The Robster