A Lot Like Birds was an American

post-hardcore Post-hardcore is a punk rock music genre that maintains the aggression and intensity of hardcore punk but emphasizes a greater degree of creative expression. It was initially inspired by post-punk and noise rock. Like post-punk, the term has be ...

band formed in

Sacramento ) , image_map = Sacramento County California Incorporated and Unincorporated areas Sacramento Highlighted.svg , mapsize = 250x200px , map_caption = Location within Sacramento ...

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

. The band released four albums and received considerable media attention from music sites. Since the release of 2011's ''Conversation Piece'', A Lot Like Birds signed to

Equal Vision Records Equal Vision Records is an independent record label based in Albany, New York. It was founded in the early 1990s by Ray Cappo, singer for the punk bands Youth of Today, Shelter, and Better Than a Thousand. The label originally existed solel ...

and released their third studio album on October 29, 2013. The band announced their final show on their Facebook page on February 17, 2018.

History

Formation and ''Plan B'' (2009–2010)

The band formed in Sacramento when guitarist/vocalist Michael Franzino invited local musicians to collaborate on an album. The result was A Lot Like Birds's debut album ''Plan B''. Released in 2009, the album was largely instrumental and experimental, featuring horns, strings, and guest vocals in addition to screamed vocals and post-hardcore arrangements. It has been widely distributed for free online by the band. Following the album's release, A Lot Like Birds formed a core around five of the musicians involved: Franzino and Ben Wiacek (Vegan Discharge) on guitar, Michael Littlefield on bass, Joe Arrington on drums, and Cory Lockwood (Vegan Discharge) on vocals. The other musicians that appeared on the album would appear at live shows as guest performers, and the band took to describing themselves as a "5-8 piece" outfit.

Addition of Kurt Travis and ''Conversation Piece'' (2011)

In January 2011, A Lot Like Birds confirmed that singer

Kurt Travis Kurt Travis (born January 16, 1987) is an American singer, musician, and songwriter from Sacramento, California. He is currently part of the post-hardcore bands Royal Coda and Push Over and the math rock duo Gold Necklace, and was formerly a v ...

would be joining the band, after the information had already leaked online. Travis, who had previously fronted

Dance Gavin Dance Dance Gavin Dance is an American rock band from Sacramento, California, formed in 2005. The band currently consists of vocalists Jon Mess and Tilian Pearson, lead guitarist Will Swan, rhythm guitarist Andrew Wells, and drummer Matthew Mingus. ...

, had originally planned to collaborate with A Lot Like Birds for a track, but decided to join after seeing how well he and the band fit together. Travis soon formed a connection at Doghouse Records, and in April A Lot Like Birds announced that they had signed to the label, despite not having any music to showcase beyond ''Plan B''. The first demo recorded with Kurt Travis was for the song "Tantrum (Far from the Tree, the Apple Grew Rotten)", an eight-minute, uncommonly structured song that leaked onto the internet in March, before the signing was announced. Having generated a steady buzz, A Lot Like Birds released their second album, ''Conversation Piece'', to much anticipation on October 11. With more focus on vocals than on their first album, ''Conversation Piece'' was also less experimental and more focused on post-hardcore elements. The release was generally well received by fans of the genre. With their second album under their belt, the band set out on their first national tour with Just Like Vinyl and

Signing to Equal Vision and ''No Place'' (2012–2014)

On August 8, 2012, it was announced that A Lot Like Birds had signed to

. On September 12, 2013, Equal Vision Records and A Lot Like Birds announced that a new album, ''No Place'', would be released on October 29. A new song entitled "Kuroi Ledge" was released on October 4. A music video for the song "Next to Ungodliness" was released on October 25. '' No Place'' debuted at number 199 on the ''Billboard'' 200 and number 6 on the Heatseekers Album Chart. The album focuses on the idea of "home" and continues the theme of the group's lyrical focus and use of spoken word in their music. The songs of ''No Place'' shine a spotlight on what constitutes a home and the emotional attachments or lack thereof within various rooms of a house. An animated music video for the song "Connector" was released on January 9, 2014.

''DIVISI'', side projects and Kurt Travis' departure (2015–2017)

The band announced on February 28, 2015, that bassist Michael Littlefield had left the band. On June 26, 2015, the band announced Matt Coate as their new bassist while on tour, and guitarist Michael Franzino released a debut full-length studio album for his side project, alone. On February 20, 2016, the band announced

' departure from the band. Travis cited a change in the band's direction as his reason for leaving. In Travis's absence, Cory Lockwood took vocal lessons to expand his vocal abilities for the new album, with additional vocals performed by Matt Coate. On March 8, 2017, the band released a teaser video for the album, titled ''DIVISI''. The album was released on May 5, 2017.

Break up (2018)

The band announced on their Facebook page that they will be breaking up following almost ten years together.

Band members

;Final Lineup * Cory Lockwood –

vocals Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or withou ...

(2009–2018) * Michael Franzino –

lead guitar Lead guitar (also known as solo guitar) is a musical part for a guitar in which the guitarist plays melody lines, instrumental fill passages, guitar solos, and occasionally, some riffs and chords within a song structure. The lead is the fe ...

(2009–2018) * Ben Wiacek –

rhythm guitar In music performances, rhythm guitar is a technique and role that performs a combination of two functions: to provide all or part of the rhythmic pulse in conjunction with other instruments from the rhythm section (e.g., drum kit, bass guitar ...

(2009–2018) * Joseph Arrington –

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair of matching drumsticks ...

(2009–2018) * Matt Coate -

bass guitar The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and ...

(2015–2018),

(2016–2018) ;Former Band Members * Juli Lydell – keyboards,

backing vocals A backing vocalist is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists. A backing vocalist may also sing alone as a lead-in to the main vocalist's entry or to sing a counter-melody. Backing vocalists are ...

(2009) * Matt Sunderland –

trumpets The trumpet is a brass instrument commonly used in classical and jazz ensembles. The trumpet group ranges from the piccolo trumpet—with the highest register in the brass family—to the bass trumpet, pitched one octave below the standard B ...

, xylophones (2009) * Tyler Lydell –

(2009) * Athena Koumis –

violins The violin, sometimes known as a ''fiddle'', is a wooden chordophone (string instrument) in the violin family. Most violins have a hollow wooden body. It is the smallest and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in the family in regular ...

(2009–2010) * Michael Littlefield –

(2009–2015) *

–

(2011–2016) ;Timeline

Discography

;Studio albums * ''Plan B'' (2009) * ''Conversation Piece'' (2011) * '' No Place'' (2013) * ''DIVISI'' (2017) ;Music videos *"Think Dirty Out Loud" (2011) *"Vanity's Fair" (2013) *"Next to Ungodliness" (2013) *"Connector" (2014) *"For Shelley (Unheard)" (2017) *"The Sound of Us" (2017) *"Trace the Lines" (2017)

References

External links

*
A Lot Like Birds at AllMusic.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lot Like Birds Musical groups from Sacramento, California Equal Vision Records artists American screamo musical groups American post-hardcore musical groups American emo musical groups Musical groups established in 2009 Musical groups disestablished in 2018 Doghouse Records artists