Birdeatsbaby is a genre indefinable quartet formed in 2008 and based in Brighton. The dark and twisted quality of their music videos has gained them some degree of fame. Just like that other dark cabaret band, The Dresden Dolls, they present a lot of piano-led pop tunes, supplemented with drums, guitar, and violin. Singer and pianist Mishkin Fitzgerald has also released a solo album, and works in electro-math-rock band Cat Fire Radio.
This band contains examples of:
Cover Version: Birdeatsbaby has released covers of songs by Muse, Tool, Marilyn Manson, Korn, Hole, and PJ Harvey to name a few.
Genre Shift: The bombastic cabaret theme of the early videos has been somewhat withdrawn from their latest videos, giving place to more desaturated colors à la Nolan, and more melancholic songs.
Genre Throwback: The "Feast of Hammers" music video evokes Hammer Horror movies.
Gothic Horror: "The Bullet Within" borrows from this genre, particularly the song "Hands of Orlac" which is named after a gothic horror film.
Harsh Vocals: Mishkin alternates between this and more gentle vocalizations.
Haunted Heroine: The subject of "Ghosts".
Murder Ballad: "Love Will Bring You Nothing."
Obligatory Bondage Song: A variation: "Miserable" is about a woman who is into BDSM, but the narrator of the song seems to disapprove of her lifestyle.
Riot Grrrl: The movement seems to have at least influenced the band, though it is unknown if Birdeatsbaby identifies itself as a part of it.
Pintsized Powerhouse: Mishkin trains in kickboxing in real life. She is shown training and fighting in the "Present Company" video from her first solo single.
Sanity Slippage Song: "Incitatus"
Take That!: "Gone", "Jim", and "The Replacement". All quite vicious and open. "Part of Me" may be the band's most scathing song to date.
Teenage Death Songs: "Seventeen".
Uncommon Time: The verses of "Tenterhooks" are effectively in 22/8 time, and sections of "The Bullet" are in phrases of 5.
Vomit Indiscretion Shot: In "Feast of Hammers", when Mishkin sees the masked men in action.
Whole-Plot Reference: The entire "I Always Hang Myself With The Same Rope" video is one to Alfred Hitchcock movies.
Word Salad Lyrics: Most of the album "Here She Comes-a-Tumblin'" was the result of a teenage Mishkin's insomnia-induced hallucinations and nightmares, resulting in some particularly strange and terrifying imagery on more than one occasion.
From: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Music/Birdeatsbaby
Birdeatsbaby is a Brighton, UK chamber rock/prog-punk/dark cabaret four-piece, of Mishkin Fitzgerald (lead vocals, piano), Hana Maria (violin, vocals), Garry Mitchell (bass, guitar) and Anna Mylee (drums). The band was formed in November 2007, followed by début album Here She Comes-a-Tumblin' (2009, self-released). Their albums include Feast Of Hammers (2012), The Bullet Within (2014), Tanta Furia (2016) and The World Conspires (2019). Not fitting current musical trends, Birdeatsbaby's sound is fast-paced with complex drums, and piano/bass/violin generally combined for dramatic/catchy choruses. Like a more hyper-active Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds meets a slightly depressed Freddie Mercury. Descriptions of the band have included: 'an unhinged burlesque brand of freak-pop' and 'Twin Peaks on snuff.' From: https://www.last.fm/music/Birdeatsbaby/+wiki
