For an album titled Eat The Wind, I’m embarrassed to admit I was expecting a hodgepodge of metal mischievousness. To say the least, I was pleasantly surprised. Nothing like what I expected from Human Behavior which for me, personally, was a departure from the usual things I’ve been forcing in my ear holes.
The title song and lead track for Eat The Wind starts like your simple back porch 16th century Gregorian chant. Now that might not sound like your usual cup of hipster tea, but it gently pulls you in one strum of the mandolin at a time. By the midpoint of the song, it doesn’t feel the least bit unnatural to strip down to your skivees and take to frolicking in the nearest meadow, or a patch of dandelions. Well, maybe that’s just me.
The rest of the record follows suit from its self-titled beginnings. Never straying far from the folksy roots it so humbly pays tribute to. At some points, Eat the Wind could almost be mistaken for long lost Moldy Peaches songs or anything else from the Kimya Dawson cannon. The music is gentle and relaxing. In no way does Human Behavior sound like they take themselves too seriously, and as a person who takes himself way too seriously, it’s a welcome release. The record is earthy. It also sounds like it was made with great care by people who care about the art they bring to the world. It doesn’t sound forced nor does it sound like an attempt to copy another artist, even if there are similarities.
Now I won’t pretend to know what you the reader wants to listen to, but two stand out tracks for the adventurous listener would be “Mickey in kid hands” and “No it was not”. Another would be the spoken word driven “Rise and shined”. As I sit on my front porch, on an otherwise beautiful Phoenix morning, Human Behavior is the perfect soundtrack for a perfect day. Not too heavy, not too soft, they’re like the Goldilocks of my lazy Wednesday afternoon. Just right, and as I drift away to the hollow colors of resonator guitars and gingerly plucked banjos, I loose myself in the sweet subtle sounds of their folksy world. Only coming back to reality to ask myself if the laughter of children and chirping of birds is part of their music or just a happy coincidence in this blissful little moment.
Listen to Eat the Wind here.
