Years active 1987—1994 Active from 1987 | Active until 1994 Members Chip Kinman, Tony Kinman | |
Associated acts The DilsRank and FileCowboy NationBraindead Soundmachine Past members Chip KinmanTony Kinman Albums Modern Day Saints, Whistle & Sing, Blackbird Similar The Blackbirds, Rachel Clark, BlackByrd, Tarryn Lamb, Tazz | ||
Formed by brothers Chip and Tony Kinman after they dissolved their cowpunk band Rank and File, Blackbird were an electronic post-punk band. The Kinman's harmony-enhanced singing was as mellifluous as the vocal sound they had established in Rank and File, while the songwriting structure was pop music-inspired. The pop elements were anchored by a grungy-sounding Yamaha RX-5 drum machine, Tony's throbbing 8th-note bass lines and thickened by Chip's heavily distorted and echo-y guitar lines.
Contents
Blackbird marked the third distinct musical style embraced and perpetrated by the Kinmans, first with punk rock (The Dils), followed by country punk (or cowpunk) with Rank and File, and finally the abrasive, metallic techno-pop of Blackbird.
The band's oeuvre includes three eponymous albums, the first two released by Iloki Records and produced by then-Butthole Surfers sound tech, Ric Wallace. Subsequent releases include the last album (also eponymous) released on Scotti Bros. in 1992; following the third and final full-length release, Iloki Records hired Braindead Soundmachine's Cole Coonce to produce updated versions of songs the brothers had success with in previous bands, "Class War" by The Dils and "Amanda Ruth" by Rank and File.
Discography
Songs
Howl1988
Glamourous DrunkBird's Eye View · 2005
Weedstack2013