The latest release by the fringe pop outfit Bird Names is another bright star in their galaxy of offerings. The album, Metabolism: A Salute to the Energy of the Sun, was created meticulously over the course of many moons and spiritual awakenings in sunny Chicago, IL. The band is a duo, of sorts, comprised of Phelan LaVelle & David Lineal, though a cast of good souls have helped them along their travels. Recently making Athens, GA their home, they explore a pop sound that touches as much on the naïve as it does the borders of avant-experimentation. Their new album, mastered by Griffin Rodriguez (Icy Demons, Beirut, Band of Horses), is a lo-fi, boundary-pushing, pop experiment in the vein of the Beach Boys’ Smile. It is a fully-realized reflection on the sun and the fount of organic energy, or human energies, as the speech of the sun.