A Lot Like Birds is a Sacramento-based progressive/post-hardcore band founded by guitarist, composer and original vocalist Michael Franzino, repeatedly identified in Submerge coverage as a Sacramento band and described in 2013 as "locally based."[1][2][3] Known for technically dense, genre-crossing compositions and a frenetic live show, the band grew from a two-man project into a multi-member ensemble and went on to release records nationally on Doghouse Records and Equal Vision Records.[1][2][4] After disbanding in 2018, the band reunited in 2023 and remains active as of 2025.[5][6][7]
At a glance
- Sacramento-based progressive/post-hardcore band; founder Michael Franzino was a "Sacramento music wunderkind."[1]
- Began as a two-man project led by Franzino before adding members.[1]
- Releases: Plan B (2009, self-release), Conversation Piece (Oct. 11, 2011, Doghouse Records), No Place (Oct. 29, 2013, Equal Vision Records), DIVISI (May 5, 2017, Equal Vision Records), "When in Love" (Oct. 1, 2025, single).[1][2][4][3][8][7]
- Co-vocalist Kurt Travis joined in 2011 from fellow Sacramento band Dance Gavin Dance; he left the band in 2016.[2][9]
- Rhythm section (Joe Arrington, Michael Franzino) also formed the supergroup Sianvar.[10]
- Disbanded February 17, 2018; reunited December 2023.[5][6]
Origin and formation
A Lot Like Birds started as a two-man project led by frontman Michael Franzino, then picked up five additional members.[1] Franzino had previously won the Jammies with his earlier band She's a Dead Man in 2007, while still in high school; he was 20 years old at the time of the band's 2010 Submerge interview.[1] The 2009 debut Plan B was largely Franzino's solo work: he invited a roster of local musicians to play instruments ranging from trumpet and trombone to cello and violin, and programmed the album's drums himself rather than using a live drummer.[1][2]
The early live lineup coalesced from musicians originally invited as album guests: screamer Cory Lockwood, guitarist Ben Wiacek (of post-hardcore project Discovery of a Lifelong Error), violinist Athena Koumis (of folk-rock project Life as Ghosts), and vocalist/keyboardist Juli Lydell and drummer Tyler Lydell (the sibling duo of experimental-folk project The Dreaded Diamond), banding around Franzino and bassist Michael Littlefield (also spelled Litterfield) to make a seven-piece.[1]
Local status
A Lot Like Birds is local to Sacramento. Submerge consistently labels it "Sacramento band," "local progressive/post-hardcore band," and "Sacramento post-hardcore band," and describes founder Michael Franzino as a "Sacramento music wunderkind."[1][11][4] A 2013 piece called the group "locally based" while noting they "are finally starting to blow up and not be so local anymore" — a statement of growing fame, not of out-of-town origin.[3] A 2017 article likewise framed the band's Goldfield show as a "hometown show" and "welcome the band home."[8] (Confidence: high.)
Record label history
Kurt Travis's arrival in January 2011 quickly opened a new door for the band: according to Wikipedia, Travis formed a connection at Doghouse Records, and in April 2011 the band announced they had signed to the label.[12] Conversation Piece appeared on Doghouse in October of that year.[2] On August 8, 2012, the band signed to Equal Vision Records, which became the home for both No Place (2013) and DIVISI (2017).[13]
Releases timeline
- Plan B (2009): Self-released full-length, largely Franzino's work, recorded over roughly nine months at Jack O'Donnell's Shattered Records; the drum programming alone took five of those months, and some songs ran over 100 tracks.[1] An acoustic EP titled Fuck Morrissey was announced as the next planned recording in early 2010.[1]
- Conversation Piece (Oct. 11, 2011): Released on Doghouse Records; recorded primarily over three weeks in Portland, Oregon with producer/engineer Kris Crummett, with one song finished in Sacramento with engineer Chris Miller (Crummett joining remotely via Skype).[2] First two singles were "Think Dirty Out Loud" and "Sesame Street Is No Place for Me."[2] Unlike Plan B, it was a collaborative effort built mostly on core instruments (guitar, bass, drums, vocals).[2]
- No Place (Oct. 29, 2013): Released on Equal Vision Records and again recorded with Kris Crummett (at Interlace Audio, Portland).[4][3] A concept album exploring the emotions tied to rooms in a home; guitarist Ben Wiacek described the aim as identifying "the emotional dichotomy of the 'home' experience."[4] The album debuted at number 199 on the Billboard 200 and number 6 on the Heatseekers Album Chart.[14]
- DIVISI (May 5, 2017): Released on Equal Vision Records, recorded with Sacramento-based producer Dryw Owens after the band "retooled with a new lineup"; themed around acknowledging the past and facing the future.[8]
- "When in Love" (Oct. 1, 2025): Post-reunion single featuring Geoff Rickly of Thursday — their first official release in eight years.[7]
Lineup changes
Co-vocalist Kurt Travis joined in 2011, having spent the prior couple of years co-fronting fellow Sacramento post-hardcore band Dance Gavin Dance before being removed from that group.[2] His addition gave A Lot Like Birds a twin-vocal attack, with Travis and Cory Lockwood both singing and screaming rather than splitting "singer" and "screamer" roles.[2] The Conversation Piece-era lineup was Franzino and Wiacek on guitars, Littlefield on bass, Joe Arrington on drums, and Lockwood and Travis on vocals.[2] Travis stepped away from his role in the band in 2016.[9] The band again retooled with a new lineup for DIVISI in 2017.[8]
Following the 2023 reunion, the active lineup as of the October 2025 single consists of Michael Franzino (lead guitar, vocals), Joseph Arrington (drums), Kurt Travis (vocals), and Andy Cizek (vocals), with Reese Ortenberg (bass) and Greg Almeida (guitars) as touring members.[15]
Disbandment and reunion
On February 17, 2018 — roughly ten months after releasing DIVISI — the band announced on their Facebook page that they would be breaking up.[5] On December 12, 2023, the band announced a reunion with an initial one-off set at Kill Iconic Fest on March 23, 2024 at The House of Blues in Anaheim; demand was sufficient that a second show was added for March 21, 2024.[6] The reunion lineup consisted of Kurt Travis, Michael Franzino, and Joseph Arrington, with special guests Reese Ortenberg of Eidola on bass, Greg Almeida (Secret Gardens, ex-VISTA) on guitar, and Matthew Fitzpatrick (ex-My Iron Lung) on vocals.[16]
Post-reunion activity
On October 1, 2025, A Lot Like Birds released "When in Love" featuring Geoff Rickly of Thursday — their first official release in eight years.[7] The single marked the formal re-expansion of the lineup, with Andy Cizek added as the band's fourth official vocalist member.[15]
Touring
A Lot Like Birds undertook a roughly week-and-a-half West Coast tour during the Conversation Piece sessions to test new material.[2] In February 2013 the band embarked on its first European tour — a 23-shows-in-23-days run through the UK, Germany, France, Hungary, Ukraine and more.[11] The band headlined a No Place tour in late 2013 with openers HRVRD, Night Verses and My Iron Lung, hitting Sacramento on Nov. 25 at Luigi's.[4]
Notable Sacramento shows
- Jan. 16, 2010: Headlined the Shire Road Club in Sacramento.[1]
- Jan. 21, 2011: Closed out a bill at The Refuge (a venue doubling as a Lutheran church) with Not to Reason Why, Early States, The Dreaded Diamond and Cryptics; this set featured Kurt Travis's melodic vocals alongside the band's hardcore attack.[17]
- 2011 (pre-release): Played to ~80 fans at Luigi's Fungarden in Midtown ahead of Conversation Piece.[2]
- Oct. 13, 2011: Shared the stage with Dance Gavin Dance at Sacramento State's University Union Ballroom, with Sacramento's Ten After Two also performing.[2]
- June 26, 2015: Played Concerts in the Park at Cesar Chavez Plaza alongside Slaves (Jonny Craig's band), Tell the Wolves, We Went to the Moon and Z Rokk.[18]
- May 30, 2017: Headlined a hometown DIVISI release show at Goldfield Trading Post with Household, Hearts Like Lions and Owel.[8]
Scene relationships
The band is closely entwined with Sacramento's post-hardcore lineage, especially Dance Gavin Dance: Travis came from DGD, the two bands recorded with the same producer (Kris Crummett), and the bands shared a stage in 2011.[2] Members spun off numerous projects: Kurt Travis released solo albums (Wha Happen, Everything Is Beautiful in 2014 on DGD's Will Swan's Blue Swan Records) and later formed Eternity Forever and the side project Push Over, and runs the indie label Esque Records.[19][9] Franzino launched a solo project, alone., in 2014, funded via Indiegogo, planning to write in isolation in a cabin.[20] Drummer Joe Arrington and Franzino joined the post-hardcore supergroup Sianvar alongside Will Swan (Dance Gavin Dance), Donovan Melero (Hail the Sun) and Sergio Medina (Stolas), whose 2016 debut Stay Lost was produced by Dryw Owens at Roseville's Little Russia Recordings.[10]