Who needs drums when we’ve been given opposable thumbs that can snap as well as pluck, strum, and bow a variety of strings? Certainly not Andrew Wegman Bird. Not on Outside Problems. My favorite whistler is back following up last year’s Inside Problems by showcasing his dexterity on a host of instruments across a set of eight tunes that is straight up pastoral.

As Bird says, "I wanted to record Inside Problems outside, but this plan fell apart when it became clear that some dude with a wood chipper could really ruin our day. I did so much casual recording during the pandemic, in my backyard or in Ojai, that I gathered enough outdoor recordings to make Outside Problems. Most of these were made without any intention of making an album, just improvisations on simple themes, some of which make up the musical backbone of Inside Problems."

There may be (next to) no vocals, but the album boasts a bevy of melody carried through by Bird's numerous ways of engaging those various strings. His finest work yet? No. And summer jams they are probably not. But with this heat, Outside Problems is a welcome, cooling reprieve.