From right to left: Keely, Mishkin, Katha and Garry
Birdeatsbaby is a Dark Cabaret quartet formed in 2008 and based in Brighton. The dark and twisted quality of their music videos has gained them some degree of fame. Just like that other dark cabaret band, they present a lot of piano lead poptunes, supplemented with drums, guitar, and violin.Singer and pianist Mishkin Fitzgerald has also released a solo album, and works in electro-math-rock band Cat Fire Radio.Current Line-Up:
- Mishkin Fitzgerald: Vocals and piano
- Garry Mitchell: Guitar and bass guitar
- Hana Maria: Violin, cello, and additional vocals
- Pablo Paracchino: Percussion
Former Members:
- Keely Mcdonald: Violin and additional vocals
- Philippa Bloomfield: Ex-drummer. Directed the video for "The Sailor's Wife" after her departure.
- Ella Stirmey: Cello and additional vocals
- Charlie Reith-Pert: Ex-drummer.
- Katha Rothe: Percussion
- Tessa Gilles: Violin
- Forbes Coleman: Percussion and synths
This band contains examples of:
- Baroque Pop
- Catchphrase: "FLOG THAT HORSE !"
- Cover Version: Birdeatsbaby has released covers of songs by Muse, tool, Marilyn Manson, Korn, Hole, and PJ Harvey to name a few.
- Elegant Classical Musician: All of them, given the theme for the band.
- Fiery Redhead: Mishkin.
- The Flapper: The band sometimes dress up like this.
- Genre Shift: The bombastic cabaret theme of the early videos has been somewhat withdrawn from their latest videos, giving place to more desaturated colors à la Nolan, and more melancholic songs.
- Genre Throwback: The "Feast of Hammers"
music video evokes Hammer Horror movies. - Gothic Horror: The Bullet Within borrows from this genre, particularly the song Hands of Orlac which is named after a gothic horror film.
- Granola Girl: Birdeatsbaby approves veganism.
- Gratuitous German: The occasional case from Katha.
- Harsh Vocals: Mishkin alternates between this and more gentle vocalizations.
- Haunted Heroine: The subject of "Ghosts".
- Motifs: Anchors, for the "Feast of Hammers" album.
- Last Chorus Slow-Down: "Love Will Bring You Nothing".
- Looks Like Cesare: Mishkin, in the "Incitatus" video.
- Murder Ballad: Love Will Bring You Nothing.
- Obligatory Bondage Song: A variation: "Miserable" is about a woman who is into BDSM, but the narrator of the song seems to disapprove of her lifestyle.
- Played straight in "Temple".
- Riot Grrrl: The movement seems to have at least influenced the band, though it is unknown if Birdeatsbaby identifies itself as a part of it.
- Running Gag: Although unintentional, reading the reviews and seeing almost none of them describe Birdeatsbaby as being the same genre provides a few smiles.
- Pintsized Powerhouse: Mishkin trains in kickboxing in real life. She is shown training and fighting in the "Present Company" video from her first solo single.
- Princess Curls: Mishkin in Rosary.
- Sanity Slippage Song: "Incitatus"
- Take That!: Gone, Jim, and The Replacement. All quite vicious and open.
- "Part of Me" may be the band's most scathing song to date.
- Teenage Death Songs: Seventeen.
- Uncommon Time: The verses of "Tenterhooks" are effectively in 22/8 time, and sections of "The Bullet" are in phrases of 5.
- Vomit Indiscretion Shot: In "Feast of Hammers", when Mishkin sees the masked men in action.
- Whole-Plot Reference: The entire "I Always Hang Myself With The Same Rope" video is one to Alfred Hitchcock movies.
- Word Salad Lyrics: Most of the album Here She Comes-a-Tumblin' was the result of a teenage Mishkin's insomnia-induced hallucinations and nightmares, resulting in some particularly strange and terrifying imagery on more than one occasion.
