A more concise record than the epic 'Sunset Studies', 'Strange Bird' still manages to cover more sonic terrain. It veers from the sweet, building harmony of 'The Vineyard', through the Wild West gallop of 'This Train', the heavy 'Song in the Key of Chance' and muted melancholy of 'O Mi Sol Li Lon' to the plaintive balladry of 'The Night is A Blackbird', and that's all in the first half hour!

Like its predecessor, 'Strange Bird' includes two tracks recorded by the band themselves ('O Mi Sol Li Lon' and 'Sunstroke House'), originally meant as demos but which ended up making the grade. The album was recorded at Sing Sing in Melbourne with Chris Thompson, and in Sydney at Megaphon with Paul McKercher and Big Jesusburger with Chris Townend respectively.

* Triple J Album of the Week

"Frankly, it's amazing that it took two years for these songs to reach the States-- those folks down in Australia already own an entire continent, so no need to hog the greatest music they produce for themselves as well, right. Strange Bird is a Technicolor pop opus that's so stuffed with ideas and instruments that it's wont to rupture from time to time." 8.2/10 Joe Tangari 
 - PITCHFORK MEDIA (US)

"I'm yet to see a convincing counter-argument to my assertion that we haven't produced a genuinely great act in Australia for a decade or more, but I'm not alone in thinking that Augie March may well be the band we'll look back on in five or 10 years and say, yep, they were the ones. And in songwriter Glenn Richards they have a lyricist without parallel in Australia." Bernard Zuel 
 - SYDNEY MORNING HERALD

"The cruel irony of making a brilliant record is that the whole world will never hear it. The sheer improbability of aligning the stars and blasting a hole in pop culture for the work to reside is the kind of romantic notion that has launched a million bands. Australia's Augie March may be a tiny blip on the global radar, but that could all change if this second release, the mesmerizing Strange Bird, gets into the right hands. Fourteen tracks of pastoral beauty, labyrinthine arrangements, and breathtaking prose render the listener unable to take it all in one listen." 4.5 stars 
 - ALLMUSIC.COM (US)

"Startling in its goodness, Strange Bird, the rich, inventive U.S. debut from Australia's Augie March, goes where few bands dare to tread. While the fragile melodies of Glenn Richards effortlessly color the outfit's adventurous, sonic canvas, calling Augie March's approach art rock wouldn't be right. After all, you wouldn't mar XTC's Skylarking or the Flaming Lips' The Soft Bulletin with such a tag. But Strange Bird is that brilliant and that adventurous. Strange Bird a landmark album." John D. Luerssen 
 - ROLLING STONE (US)

Tracklisting: 
1. The Vineyard 
2. This Train Will Be Taking No Passengers 
3. Little Wonder 
4. The Night Is A Blackbird 
5. O Mi Sol Li Lon 
6. Song In The Key Of Chance 
7. Up The Hill And Down 
8. There's Something At The Bottom Of The Black Pool 
9. Addle Brains 
10. The Keepa 
11. The Drowning Dream 
12. Sunstroke House 
13. Brundisium 
14. O Song

Read the 'Strange Bird' Bio

Released: October 14, 2002