Fly or Die II: Bird Dogs of Paradise cover

Fly or Die II: Bird Dogs of Paradise

Released

On her second album with her Fly Or Die band, Jaimie Branch becomes a political polemicist; the album’s heart is the 11-minute “Prayer For Amerikkka,” a two part song-poem that tackles racism, both individual and structural, and the plight of immigrants. Branch recites razor-sharp lyrics over a crawling, Mingus-esque blues vamp. Other tracks like “Simple Silver Surfer” and “Nuevo Roquero Estéreo” just let the band — bassist Jason Ajemian and drummer Chad Taylor from the debut, and new cellist Lester St. Louis — groove, and that’s fantastic too.

Phil Freeman

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