Yep Roc to Release New Radio Birdman Album
June 6, 2006, 3:09 pm

On Aug 22, Yep Roc Records will have the distinct honor of releasing Zeno Beach, the first album of new material from legendary Australian punk outfit Radio Birdman since their break-up over twenty five years ago. Zeno Beach was written and recorded in the latter half of 2005 at Big Jesus Burger Studios in Surry Hills, an inner city suburb of Sydney. Band guitarist and Detroit expatriate Deniz Tek produced the thirteen tracks with prominent local engineer Greg Wales.

As if a new album weren't enough, Radio Birdman will also undertake their first ever U.S. tour late this summer. Starting August 30 in Los Angeles, the tour runs through September and takes the band through San Francisco, Seattle, Chicago, Detroit, Cleveland, Washington, DC, Boston and New York.

Yep Roc considers Radio Birdman to be one of the greatest bands to come out of Australia. Although other Australian acts such as the Saints, Midnight Oil, and the Hoodoo Gurus had more international exposure and longer active careers, Radio Birdman's influence on the world's underground music scene is pervasive and profound. Despite the fact that in the U.S. their debut album Radios Appear was criminally under-promoted and the follow-up Living Eyes not even released, Radio Birdman garnered a worldwide cult following among generations of connoisseurs of gutsy, no frills rock and roll. It didn't hurt that Tek and vocalist Rob Younger collaborated with members of the MC5 and Stooges in other musical endeavors along the way.

In 2001, Sub Pop reissued the bulk of their original output in the collection 1974-1978: The Essential Radio Birdman. Though over twenty years old, Radio Birdman's high-powered rock n roll blew away most current music and introduced many new U.S. fans to the band. Dated? Not at all. New fans realized what they'd been missing all these years and interest in the band has continued to grow ever since.

Zeno Beach is a long-overdue new chapter in the Radio Birdman story. The Stooges/MC5 influences are still apparent, but the writing and performances have matured and broadened. The results are no proto-punk museum piece, but rather vital new music entirely worthy of a place alongside Radio Birdman's early gems. Worldwide, people are excited to hear that Radio Birdman are back and ready to unleash Zeno Beach. Yep Roc Records is honored to continue their story.