After years in limbo, Deceiver / Mirror by Birth (Defects) is finally arriving on May 30 via Reptilian Records. Following last month’s lead single Under, today the Baltimore noise-punk band premieres Despotism—a track rooted in the chaotic urgency that shaped both the recording process and the themes that run through the album.
Written and recorded between 2014 and 2017, the album was nearly lost after the band disbanded and life intervened.
Rob Savillo and Sean Gray, the core of Birth (Defects), picked up the pieces years later, pushing the album toward completion with a sense of resolve shaped by grief, time, and reflection. In 2024, they returned to the record and mixed it at Electrical Audio in Chicago, with Matthew Barnhart stepping in after the sudden death of Steve Albini, who was originally slated to mix the album.
Despotism, like much of Deceiver / Mirror, is raw and sharp—held together not by polish but by conviction.
Rob describes their method as “no nonsense, just knock it out in a take or two,” recalling how they tracked eight songs in a single day in Nick Skrobisz’s open-basement studio, working with virtually no budget or isolation booths. “We really didn’t have time to dick around,” he says. “We started with all the drum tracks (while I played scratch guitar), then we’d go through each instrument one-by-one by playing along to the drum tracks in headphones.”
The songwriting process for the album stretched across years and mindsets. “Some of the material was written in my then-apartment with Sean, like Doubts,” Rob explains. “I remember sitting down at my kitchen table, jamming on the riffs, and writing them to a simple drum machine beat.” Their then-drummer Erik added what the band called the “super fill”—a massive, unexpected burst of drumming that locked the song’s ending into place.
Other songs came under pressure. “Sean and I wrote Glass, Trapped, and Throne just a few weeks before our first session,” Rob says. “Bringing new material so close to recording caused a bit of contention—one then-band member almost wanted to cancel the whole thing! His worries were unwarranted.”
Sean sees the turning point in an earlier track, Youth, which helped set the tone for the whole album. “Ian Graham had come up with this driving bassline that almost had a Joy Division type feel to it,” he recalls. “Rob had written this extremely catchy bridge part. I was skeptical of even having a part like that. At that point I was really into writing almost mutant hardcore songs that called back something like Siege meets weirdo no wave legends like DNA.” But the band leaned into the contrast. “Rob wrote an almost Buzzcocks-like guitar melody to the bridge, and I matched it vocally. We all knew this could be an opener. It sort of sets the tone for the LP in a lot of ways musically. Almost as if anything could happen.”
Thematically, Deceiver / Mirror revolves around lies—both told and received—and how dishonesty ripples through relationships. Sean says the lyrics emerged from personal experience. “Almost this youthful ignorance when lying… as if you aren’t hurting anyone. Out of sight, out of mind so to speak. It became extremely fascinating to me from both a personal and just storytelling perspective.”
That theme came into sharper focus on Under, the first single and last song they wrote for the album. Sean says, “It really put into focus what we could do using the dynamic of noise, pop, and experimental music, and not in a gimmicky way.” The track deals with being caught in a lie and convincing yourself it doesn’t matter. “Almost like you are under a spell of sorts. It is a heavy song personally, but probably our most direct from a pop perspective.”
Sean insisted on re-recording vocals for Under during the 2024 sessions. “There was a slight mess up in my vocal range at a certain part. We left it in there as it made the song seem more human, and reminded me of the strain Neil Young would put on his vocals… That strain is what makes his vocals seem so personal and vulnerable.”
Rob’s role in shaping the record’s voice is just as central. “My approach to writing is, ‘does this sound cool?’ I’m never thinking about genre or convention. I have all my influences in my head, and I’m not trying to channel them, but they come through nonetheless. These are noisy, sloppy, passionate, whatever-you-want-to-call-them songs.”
And despite the long break, the band aimed for consistency across the LP.
“They’re also each different from one another, which is another part of my writing philosophy. If two songs sound too similar, one of them has to go or change. I will drop an idea that isn’t working in an instant. So many riffs and whole songs are on the cutting room floor,” Rob admits. “I feel that we’ve put together an album unified thematically and sonically, not just a collection of songs.”
Despotism is the next step in that unveiling—a sharp, loud piece of unfinished business that’s finally being made whole.
Deceiver / Mirror lands on May 30 via Reptilian Records. Pre-orders are live now on Bandcamp and the label’s store.
Birth (Defects) are also hitting the road for a short East Coast run:
May 28th, 2025 – Queens, NY – TV Eye w/ MICHAEL BERDAN (UNIFORM), FOREIGN BODY
May 29th, 2025 – Ithaca, NY – Angry Mom Records w/ CARPET CRAWLER, CRIME WAVES
May 30th, 2025 – North Adams, MA – Belltower w/ CINNAMON, ICE RASTA
May 31st, 2025 – Newark, DE – The Newark Bike Project w/ TBA
June 1st, 2025 – Philadelphia, PA – 1026 Space w/ EMILY ROBB, BORE HOLE, MARATHON 77
June 13th, 2025 – Baltimore, MD – Holy Frijoles w/ DOSSER, MUSCLE
