After a three year wait Bird Mancini has returned with a follow up to Year of Change. Funny Day is step away from the previous release in that it is more focused on one style and sound.

Funny Day is made up of 13 infectious and addictive rock-pop-psych gems. Once again, Billy Carl Mancini and Ruby Bird form the dynamic duo (sorry Batman fans, lack of other descriptive words don’t come to mind at the moment). Billy and Ruby provide a great vocal interplay and some beautiful harmonies on every track. Billy wails away on his guitar as Ruby’s accordion is a constant in the background-and after a fashion, it sounds like a soothing and underlying organ vibe to flesh out the tracks.

The two factors that are paramount to any successful recording are stellar musicianship and vocals that can live up to the musical output and blend with it effortlessly. The couple manages this process very well and come out of it with 13 unyielding tracks. The title track is my spot on pick for airplay and the follow up to that would be “Rest Of My Life.” If I were a DJ that is how I would spin them. Those are two favorites; the rest of the album is completely enjoyable as well. “Heart Of The City” is a unique tune, Billy starts it off with Lou Reed like intro and continues to interject the lyrics this way in between singing verses normally, it provides a break for reflection and puts an entirely different spin on it while emphasizing the importance of what the song means. The track offers some cynicism on life in corporate USA…the daily grind and teeth clenching drive into the city, then all the arriving suits looking like the clones they are walking the streets to their clone like destinations. I think the message here is that although many have found success and money in big business they have become the robots of the corporations that created them-A modern day Stepford Wives ( a 70s flick that was remade in 2004) if you will. This is something I have referenced several times because it puts this kind of thought process into proper perspective, if you are familiar with the movie it will make sense.

The message comes across clearly and never gets lost in the music; the sounds provided actually act as a launching pad for the lyrics and allow them to enter your consciousness effectively as you rock out. This is a perfect combination and the CD booklet has all the lyrics to encourage this. I actually checked out all the lyrics after listening to this CD for the fourth or fifth time. Although I was paying attention with each listen, I found revisiting the words in silence allowed me to digest this project. My ears and mind became one (hopefully as the artist intended it) upon the next listen. That is how it worked for me and I loved every second of it. Interesting enough I spoke to Billy and told him I thought it was quite different from the last release and his response was “You are the first person that said that,” and hopefully not the last otherwise, I will start wondering if I am really living on a different planet as my wife always tells me.

This is a triumphant return for this marvelous Boston based band. Anyone that enjoys rock and pop and has an affinity for 60s psychedelic tinged pop (Beatles, Stones etc.) will love this CD.

Artist: Bird Mancini
Title: Funny Day
Genre: Rock-Psychedelic
Label: Second Story Records
Website
CD Baby Link

Tracks:
01. Holly (4:16)
02. A Funny Day To Be Alive (3:40)
03. Better Man (2:41)
04. The Other Side (2:50)
05. Through Your Eyes (3:29)
06. Rest Of My Life (5:26)
07. So Cool (4:51)
08. No Saints Can Say (1:14)
09. Somedays (3:48)
10. Heart Of The City (4:58)
11. Long Road Home (2:21)
12. Not This Time (4:40)
13. Red Geraniums (2:19)

Credits:
Ruby Bird-vocals, accordion, harmonica, melodica, percussion
Billy Carl Mancini- vocals, guitars, percussion
John Bridge-bass
Larry Harvey-drums
Rick Calcagni-bass
Jim Clements-drums
Sven Larson-bass
Mike Ahrens-drums
Mr. Curt-e-bow
Eric Michael Kelley-congas, percussion
Clara Kebabian-violin

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Keith “MuzikMan” Hannaleck