Sam Sodomsky, who releases albums under the moniker the Bird Calls, is a student of popular music. A prolific music journalist and podcaster, he’s both an expert and a diverse fan of various genres through the ages. While his latest album, Old Faithful, seems rooted in deeply felt, quasi-confessional indie folk, touches of other genres creep into the sound, which is one of the great things about this gorgeous, multifaceted release.
Kicking off with the title track, Sodomsky sings, “Words crashed through the window as I wrote this song / There’s still glass on the floor” against an ever-present acoustic guitar. But the chorus offers a slightly different atmosphere, with Winston Cook-Wilson’s keyboards, Jason Burger’s drums, and the guitar of Ian Wayne (who co-produced the album with Nico Hedley) bringing the song’s melancholia into the sort of ethereal, low-key AM radio vibe that Dewey Bunnell might contribute to a 1974 America single. “Let me show you how old faithful earned its name,” Sodomsky croons over the warm fuzz of piano and electric guitar.
Much of Old Faithful has Sodomsky’s vocals and acoustic guitar doing the lion’s share of the work, and that’s okay – his simple guitar picking and beautifully conceived lyrics would make for a fine record all by themselves (something he proved on Exodus All Over, the Bird Calls’ 2023 lo-fi release). But he wisely incorporates both the occasional full-band sound as well as more muted arrangements. The latter is exemplified wonderfully on “Old Folks”, as his guitar and conversational vocal style are complemented by Katie Battistoni’s warm, unexpected layers of French horn.
At the same time, there are lovely country rave-ups like “I Haven’t Been This Happy in a Long Time”, combining twangy guitar leads, a chugging rhythm section, and lyrics about a quaint, oddball relationship that recall Bob Dylan or Jeff Tweedy at his cowboy hat-donning peak: “Her heart was a confetti gun exploding on the moon / When she forgot to take her medicine, I’d serve it in a spoon.”
Comparisons to the aforementioned Dylan and Tweedy certainly bring into focus Sodomsky’s sharp lyrical pen – his songs are stuffed with plenty of illuminating poetry that focus on love and death, among other topics – but it’s important to note that Sodomsky is a massive fan of Bruce Springsteen, whose inspiration certainly makes appearances on Old Faithful. Musical comparisons to Nebraska may be a bit too on-the-nose due to the album’s acoustic, somewhat bare-bones approach. But there’s also a Bruce-like glimmer in Sodomsky’s epic tales of love against the odds, such as in the wistful “I Wish That We Could Fall in Love Again” or the ragged optimism of the gorgeous “Footprints”. That’s not even mentioning the brief nod to “Born to Run” on “Pleasing Myself”.
“Despite all of my progress, I’m still driven by doubt,” Sodomsky sings on Old Faithful’s closing track, “Metronome Song”. “But I take comfort in the process of always kinda figuring it out.” Under the name the Bird Calls, Sam Sodomsky infuses his songs with warmth, gravitas, and the musical wisdom of a well-traveled music fan. But, to our benefit, he’s still learning and sharing it all with us.