After garnering critical praise and national buzz from their last album, I'll Never Sleep Again, Birds & Batteries is gearing up to release an EP called Up To No Good. Best described as a spooky-funky adventure, the EP is heavily influenced by Bowie's "Scary Monsters", John Carpenter films and of course, P-funk. This intriguing new material provides for some of the more climactic moments in the band's live set. In the past two years, B&B has solidified their lineup with Mike Sempert on keys, guitar; Christopher Walsh on guitar; Jill Heinke on bass and synth; and Brian Michelson on drums and these days, everyone is singing. Through persistent touring with this core group, B&B's live show has grown stronger and tighter then ever.

More on the EP. . .

The EP is certainly a new direction for the band, and a step away from the plaintive and lush electro-country of I'll Never Sleep Again. While funkier and more eery, UTNG still demonstrates B&B's detailed attention to song writing, arrangement and production.

The songs from Up To No Good were split off from a full length album, Panorama, which the band plans to release in spring 2010. UTNG explores the more electronic side of the B&B palette, allowing the band to save the more organic material for their next output.

Band leader, Mike Sempert says, "There's a certain freedom that the EP format provides, especially with another full length in the works- a sense that we aren't defining ourselves in any fixed way, and so we can do whatever we want."

The result of that freedom, while playful and somewhat divergent, might be the best thing B&B's done yet.

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