Chaos: the only word that describes Death Grips’ past year. After releasing 2012’s most expansive and experimental album, The Money Store, the industrial hip-hop trio started what could only be described as a monumental shitstorm. Media reports and Twitter posts revealed a falling out between the group and Epic Records (allegedly, they terminated the band’s website), the label by which they were contractually bound to release an additional record. Instead of handling the situation in a democratic fashion, Death Grips decided on an alternative course of action. Not only did the group upload the master copies of their forthcoming album, No Love Deep Web, to the Internet, the cover art displayed a human phallus inscribed with the title. Epic immediately dropped the group.
Perhaps the band’s frustration with mainstream success and major label association explains the enigma that is “Birds.” Wrapped in piercing computer-generated drones and menacing percussive thumps, “Birds”‘s sounds evoke a schizophrenic mental state while its lyrics show inner confusion and vulnerability. “I’m not trying to use my mind,” lead singer MC Ride frankly states, a man caged in his own head like the bluebirds of which he speaks. Pushing the envelope has been a tenet by which Death Grips utilize to guide their unique sound and “Birds” is no exception. Now with sole ownership over future albums, it’s not hard to imagine Death Grips’ next release delving further into the noise genre to create something even more repulsively beautiful.