Shipbuilding Co.: Radios and Flying Birds

The story is cute enough. Michael Partington, formerly of Chicago’s indie pop outfit Head of Femur, moved out to Taiwan in 2008 and equipped only with guitar, keyboard, microphone and laptop sought to make “the most organic and full-sounding record possible”. In fact this début, Radios and Flying Birds, stretches those elements almost to breaking point across a set of songs far too slight and inconsequential to justify his efforts. A certain twee charm is hardwired into the titles of songs like “You Tunguskaed My Heart” and “1918 Was Our Year”, but Partington lacks the wit and verve to back them up. Sounding DIY in all the wrong ways, the compositions are more often just feeble frames of plodding keys and electronics for Partington’s sleepy, fey voice. During a laughable spoken word exchange towards the end of “1939 World’s Fair” the game is well and truly up. There’s nothing to see here, and it’s time to move on. An instantly forgettable vanity project, this is a record best avoided.