THE RIDER: Ilithios's Top 10
Ahead of their album-release show at Our Wicked Lady TONIGHT, the band on fancy parrots, Japanese convenience stores and LOTR memes
From the wise old owl to the french fry-stealing seagull… the vomiting vulture to the smart-ass mockingbird… the flightless penguin to the for-some-reason-appointed-to-be-patriotic eagle…
Plus, according to a quick google search, roughly 10,994 other species.
Birds, man. Those things are everywhere.
And it’s these very prevalent, prehistoric-feeling, wonderful winged creatures that serve as the theme and thread running through Every Bird Ever, the second album from Ilithios (which, fun fact, means “idiot” in Greek!) that just dropped April 16th!
Of the bird angle, our pal Manny Nomikos of Ilithios shared:
“The significance of birds, which appear throughout the record in field recordings, artwork, and lyrics, is their symbolism as free beings, bringers of luck, healing, but also as tragic figures. Magpies in some cultures are revered, whereas in others they are a nuisance, or pest… and therefore exterminated. Other birds are misunderstood, the Coucal builds nests with grasses believed to have medicinal qualities.. So people will go to the nests, break the legs of the nestlings in order to get the parent Coucal to bring this supposed medicinal grass to be harvested and sold. By giving meaning to nature, we both mytholigize birds, and devastate them. If you examine birds enough.. as with any object, person, or animal, you can find the parallels to our own lives. But not cats, they make no sense.”
Beyond the birds, Manny also offered the following about the record—and some key details on a few of its songs:
“The challenges of our generation feel amplified and the lines of reality and hyperbole are beyond blurred. So many things feel out of reach. Will I find love, will I find a home, will I die before I’m ready? This is an album that attempts to capture the feeling of confronting impossibility with reckless optimism. Embracing sadness, imperfection, and joy equally.
At its core, it's an indie pop record, with touches of industrial grit scattered throughout, all designed to get the listener moving. With its driving dance rhythm, ATHENS is your 2am second wind on the dance floor.. CONSERVATIVE HEARTTHROB is an explosion of pent up frustration thru fuzzy guitars and menacing drum and bass, NEW LEAF starts with wistful guitar and rhodes like wanderlust thru neon city night, followed by mad sprint of guitar solos and drum crescendo as you run to stop your heartbroken partner from getting on the plane.”
You heard it here first! As a bonus, the new record is a true product of community collaboration and creativity, featuring contributions by talented artists from around the New York City music scene, including Stephanie Gunther of Desert Sharks.
While sharks are prettyyyy much the exact opposite of birds… in this case, we’ll let it slide.
Ilithios is celebrating their album release on the Our Wicked Lady rooftop TONIGHT with Jelly Kelly and Kissed by an Animal! Grab your tickets here, then read on for THE RIDER to find out what the members of the band are digging right now—
You better believe there’s at least one beaked creature featured in there…
THE ILITHIOS TOP 10
1. The Memphis Kansas Breeze greatest hits (Manny)
If I’m feeling confused, lost, or generally down there’s my go-to video that has the 3 main hits by my fave modern country act Memphis Kansas Breeze. When the chorus in “Pickup Truck Birthday” hits, i sincerely feel a bolt of happiness thru the heart. And yea, it’s a comedy improv duo on a podcast, but their harmonies and melodies are catchy as hell... and the saga of their truck romance is quite epic.
2. Hearing and spotting wild quaker parrots (Manny)
Whether at Greenwood Cemetery, Bayside, Queens College, Midwood, Valley Stream, that trilling squawk as they fly overhead or reach out to their flock with is a source of endless joy. Also, fun fact for bird nerds, the European starlings at Greenwood cemetery have long been trying to move into the Quaker parrot colony.. (their nests are structurally impressive for a bird). The starlings also have incredible mimicky abilities so they've started perfectly imitating the distinct quaker parrot squawk!
3. Riding the Staten Island Ferry for no reason whatsoever (Don)
For roughly 25 minutes I get to pretend that I'm going on a grand transatlantic voyage to start anew somewhere.
4. Really spicy food (Don)
I was introduced to hot sauce at a very young age and pain became part of my food pyramid.
5. Caffeine-fueled songs I make up in my head about coffee (Julie)
6. Trading Lord of the Rings memes with bandmate Ana Becker (Julie)
7. Orange Dunlop Picks (Ana)
Nice bright color, not too flexy, not too hard– Goldilocks-approved Tortex. Especially the ones that are a little bit more pointy. Yesss. Good pick.
8. 7-Eleven in Japan (Ana)
IYKYK
9. A gentle drawn-and-quartering (Justin)
Need to stay limber, ya know
10. Self lipo kit (Justin)
Need to stay trim, ya know
The Top 10 above written + provided by Ilithios. Follow Ilithios at @ilithiosnyc, buy music on Bandcamp and add the songs to your Spotify playlists now!
Feature image (provided by the band): Michelle LoBianco