Remember when Dr. Frank and The Mr. T Experience practically trademarked Songs About Girls? Well, it’s 2026. Dating is in a recession, birding is somehow cool among Gen Z, and Canadian pop punks AVEM have impeccable timing with their second LP: fifteen Songs About Birds.

Who needs another pop punk anthem about getting dumped, getting back together, driving past your ex’s house, or wondering why they never texted back? Give me mealworms. Give me songs watching an injured bird and not being able to help it (“we see you screaming silently oh yeah, there is nothing we can do, but watch you.”). Give me scavenging a cadaver from the inside out, stalking prey, worrying about extinction, or the exhaustion that comes with building a nest (“Get up, get to work, do the thing, finish up, rinse and repeat”).

Sure, it could all be a metaphor for the human condition. But honestly, I hope it isn’t.

The gimmick would wear thin in lesser hands. AVEM make it soar.

I already loved their debut, not least because it came on Birdshit Splatter vinyl. But this self-titled follow-up is a step up in every department. The choruses stick longer. Fifteen songs disappear before you’ve had time to think about pressing pause. Fans of Teenage Bottlerocket, The Lillingtons, and the golden age of Fat Wreck will eat this up.

So… is it too early to declare Songs about Birds the new Songs about Girls?

AVEM is out now through an international team-up between Bearded Punk, Bloated Kat, Faster and Louder, and Scuderi Ducali.

Add to wantlist: Bandcamp || Bloated Kat || Bearded Punk || Faster and Louder || Scuderi Ducali