"This is not a collection of cast off odds and sods," the press release insists, although this EP does contain a song recorded during the session for their Hopewell the Birds of Appetite album; a collaboration with Mercury Rev; an adaptation of a Gene Clark number; and a pair of brief -- under two minute -- pieces, that are more mood enhancers than songs. So it does indeed look like a bunch of Hopewell's leftovers, outtakes, and not quite brought to fruition ideas; musically, however, Not Birds hangs perfectly together as a complete set. Within, Hopewell give full rein to their poppier side, as the title track which kicks off the CD makes clear. Here the band enter the post-punk crypt to disinter a proto-gothic atmosphere, a skittering guitar that crawls off towards very early the Edge, and tosses in a touch of sharp, Banshee-esque rhythm, before going out in an explosion of modern rock. Dark dance for a new generation. True Blue, in contrast, highlights the band's love of the Beatles, but for all its Revolver era feel, the brightness of the music is belied by the lyrics' rather terrifying vision of awaking in the middle of surgery. Beautiful Targets, the number that pairs them with Mercury Rev, soars skyward, as if Roy Orbison was paying a tribute to Freebird. On the Clark cover, an inspired adaptation of With Tomorrow, Hopewell brilliantly pull all their influences together. With the final two numbers, one an evocative, fuzz-drenched instrumental, the other, a pretty guitar and vocal only ballad, slots in the final pieces to the band's musical jigsaw. The set feels like a taster of new, even more interesting things to come, an appetizer for the full-course next album And judging by this EP, it promises to be a musically intriguing feast. ~ Jo-Ann Greene, Rovi

1		The Notbirds
2		Beautiful Targets
3		True Blue
4		With Tomorrow
5		Silent Interlude
6		Sadness

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