Charlotte Robinson of PopMatters writes that "Zombie Birdhouse [...] has reached near-legendary status for its oddity", and that it is "full of droning synthesizers, Afro-style beats and pseudo-poetic, free-associative lyrics". She also wrote that the album "marked the end of an intriguing and experimental if erratic period of Pop's career."[1] Jeffrey Ramos of Minor Clash Publications called it Pop's final new wave-era album and "[o]ne of Pop's most obscure and experimental releases that was decades ahead of its time. Filled with a strong punk rock ethos, as Pop rambles through poetic verse over introspective and experimental beats."[2] According to writer Ross Horton, the album exhibits "a kind of greasy, sweaty, sleazy rock 'n' roll fitted with a sharp electronic edge," with sporadic musical comparisons to Suicide, Throbbing Gristle and Talking Heads.[3]
Release
The album was released in September 1982 by Stein's record label Animal Records.
In 1991 the album was remastered by Mike Reese and included one bonus track, "Pain and Suffering", from the original Blank Tape Studio sessions. The track was used in the 1983 film Rock & Rule.
In 2003 the remaster was reissued as a double disc which included a concert recording from 28 October 1982 at the Masonic Temple Theater in Toronto, during Iggy's 1982 Breaking Point tour.
Zombie Birdhouse has received a mixed response from critics. Parke Puterbaugh of Rolling Stone called the album "a brainy, well-plotted collection with more depth than could have been expected from the author of 'I Wanna Be Your Dog'."[8]Robert Christgau of The Village Voice, naming it Iggy's most experimental album to date, praised "music-meister" Rob Duprey's interesting stylistic continuity, but panned Pop's "slogans, social theory, in-jokes, bad poetry, and vocal dramaturgy."[11] Sandy Robertson of Sounds felt although the album was "hardly challenging like early Pop overdosed-and-on-his-knees binges," Chris Stein courageously provides little of his familiar style; "instead it's a bespectacled text."[10]
In his retrospective review, Mark Deming of AllMusic wrote "sadly, Iggy himself didn't rise especially well to the occasion here; his lyrics are often a bizarre mélange of free-association without any clear focus, and one senses that Stein was a bit too awed by working with his hero to have the nerve to tell him when his vocals were wandering off-pitch (or out of tune altogether). [...] ultimately, this album's a failure, but it's certainly one of the most interesting and ambitious failures of Iggy's career".[4] Ian Gittins of Classic Pop described Zombie Birdhouse as "a curious and rambling affair, an undisciplined exercise in jagged art-rock which Iggy seemed to be making up as he went along." He concluded that the album "was patently a lot of fun to make. Listening to it more than once? A different matter entirely."[5] In a positive review, Ross Horton of The Line of Best Fit felt the album was "an absolutely delicious car-crash of a record, all twisted metal and noxious fumes. It's undoubtedly the noblest kind of failure, the result of two drug-damaged, burned-out rock 'n' roll casualties turning to a mediocre songwriter to cook up a set of classics. It was never going to work out exactly how they wanted, but it does almost work out."[3]
Track listing
All tracks are written by Iggy Pop and Rob Duprey, except "Ordinary Bummer" and "Street Crazies", written by Pop
Side A
No.
Title
Length
1.
"Run Like a Villain"
3:00
2.
"The Villagers"
3:46
3.
"Angry Hills"
2:55
4.
"Life of Work"
3:44
5.
"The Ballad of Cookie McBride"
2:58
6.
"Ordinary Bummer"
2:40
Side B
No.
Title
Length
1.
"Eat or Be Eaten"
3:14
2.
"Bulldozer"
2:16
3.
"Platonic"
2:39
4.
"The Horse Song"
2:57
5.
"Watching the News"
4:10
6.
"Street Crazies"
3:53
Reissue bonus track
No.
Title
Length
13.
"Pain and Suffering"
3:39
All tracks are written by Iggy Pop and Rob Duprey, except where noted
