Prominent among US-worshipping foreigners, London’s Birdhouse managed to amass a sizable following for their slavishly imitative Motor City drone with a 1986 single, “My Birdman.” Burnin’ Up was released as a six-song EP in the UK and a ten-song album in America; except for Vic Maile’s crunching production and an obnoxious slap at metal/rap, the quintet’s second studio album, Meglamania, is indistinguishable.
Arguably superior to your average Athens-by-numbers or Belgium-by-numbers, the Birdhouse’s Detroit-by-numbers shtick suffers only for lack of power, chops and originality; every cold, stolen nuance, every feigned emotion, every fake climax merely confirms that they’ve spent too much time studying French bootlegs. Raw & Alive! is a red vinyl live 10-inch (eight songs, mostly from the two albums) that illustrates why one should, in seeking Detroit’s real progeny, turn to Halo of Flies or early Motörhead.