The first time I saw Night Birds play was at Beerland in Austin, Texas. I had the self-titled 7” and was really excited to see them live. The guitarist walked on stage with scraggly, dark hair in his face. Curiously, he was wearing two foam knee braces and carried a chair to the stage. I deduced that he must have wrecked his knees somehow and had to sit to play. The band counted in and, before I knew what was happening, he was standing on the chair, then launched himself into the crowd and to the concrete floor on his knees, all the while playing insane surf guitar leads. The entire band kicked my ass all over that sweatbox and I was instantly a fan for life. Later on, we hauled ass over the Mohawk to catch their next set. The guitarist jumped again. This time it was about ten feet out and about five feet down to the concrete. On his knees, and he still didn’t miss a note. This was my introduction to Mike Hunchback. Mike left the band not long after their first LP came out, and his large shoes were filled perfectly by PJ Russo, but this latest instalment in Fat’s demo series is all about Mike. Raw versions of early songs with Mike handling vocals on a couple of them, which kind of come off with a Cough/Cool and She vibe (and perhaps inspired the Misfits tribute cover art?). This single is a welcome addition to my once again complete Night Birds catalog. –Ty Stranglehold (Fat)