Birdman is winging it again

Some bands burn out before they fade away. Radio Birdman, a dysfunctional gang of Australian sonic anarchists who, along with their Aussie neighbors the Saints, helped usher in Europe's nascent punk movement in the '70s, was an outfit destined to flame out before it really had the chance to fly.

And yet, despite the Birdman's relatively brief life (1974-78), a cult legend grew around the group's slim catalog and the hazy memories of those who saw and heard it wreak havoc on stages around Australia. Years after it imploded amid internal rifts, external setbacks, and an aborted shot at commercial success, Radio Birdman was being credited retroactively for igniting a new music movement.

``The best thing we ever did for the myth was disappear," says Radio Birdman founding guitarist and principal songwriter Deniz Tek , now an emergency room doctor in Billings, Mont. ``We weren't around when this explosion happened -- I call it a `big bang' of bands in Australia -- and by '80 or '81, there were a hundred bands playing excellent, high-energy rock music."

By then, Radio Birdman was long gone. ``All people had were the stories, and our two albums and EP. I guess that's how myths start. We were fortunate enough to be outlaws, and got thrown out of every club we played. But the term `punk' didn't exist when we started. "

Now, like the short-lived early bands that inspired it (among them the Stooges and New York Dolls), Radio Birdman is -- improbable as it may seem -- back among us. It's just released a full-length album, ``Zeno Beach" (out last week on Yep Roc Records), full of ferocious energy and feral hooks that stand with its best work. What's more, some three decades after its first derailed attempt, the band's embarking on a first-ever US tour that hits the Middle East Downstairs on Sept. 9.

``It's totally surreal -- we don't believe it yet, so we'll see if it actually happens," Tek says over the phone from Sydney, where, more than 30 years ago, he moved to attend medical school and launched Radio Birdman with singer Rob Younger. (After Birdman's demise, Tek went on to become a flight surgeon in the Navy.)

Radio Birdman's debut US tour was scheduled for 1976, opening for the Ramones. They shared the same label, Sire Records, which dropped Birdman before the group ever set foot across the pond. That was the beginning of the end. ``When we got dropped, it made things tough, and we had no money," Tek says. ``Sometimes external hardships help bring a band together, but in our case we were all exhausted and the [discord] became very bad. We were not able to go on after that."

But like Boston's Mission of Burma -- another band that burned briefly but fiercely, broke up for a couple of decades, and then returned, power intact -- Radio Birdman sound s as if it's never been away. (Tek and Burma's Roger Miller played in a rock band together as teenagers when both were growing up in Ann Arbor, Mich.)

On ``Zeno Beach," defiant, riff-stoked tracks such as ``You Just Make It Worse" and ``Remorseless" rock savagely and, yes, remorselessly. ``Locked Up" is pure Detroit muscle, an adrenalized rush reminiscent of Tek's fellow Michigan-bred artists the Stooges and MC5. And it's hard not to hear the album's opener, ``We've Come So Far to Be Here Today," as anything but autobiographical. The band first reunited 10 years ago for Australia's Big Day Out festival and has performed sporadically since.

``It got to the point where we were doing short tours and festivals, but just doing the back catalog and old stuff," Tek says. ``We realized that if we kept doing that, we weren't really going to be a band, we were just going to be a nostalgia act. We decided that we're either going to put a new album together, and it's going to be a good one, or we're going to hang it up. If it lives up to the myth, that's great. If it destroys the myth, that's fine."

``Zeno Beach" was recorded mostly live in just two weeks at a Sydney studio, with Tek producing. One day, Radio Birdman had a visit. ``The environmental protection agency sent some agents up there, issued a summons , and said, `This is toxic noise pollution and you have to stop.' That was the first time in the studio's history that had happened. We thought that was great."

AWARDING TIME: When the 19th annual Boston Music Awards take place at Avalon on Sept. 27, a handful of local artists will hear their names over and over and over again. Punk-cabaret mainstays the Dresden Dolls are this year's most-nominated group, with six nods, including act of the year. Godsmack earned five nominations, while Waltham and Protokoll each got four. Artists earning three nominations include Sonya Kitchell, the Click Five, Dropkick Murphys, Staind, State Radio, Aberdeen City, Corin Ashley, Camone, the Campaign for Real Time, Antje Duvekot, Bang Camaro, and Chad Perrone.

Producers, publicists, artists, and radio employees, among others, are all included in the nominating process, but the public is also encouraged to join in the voting. Fans can log onto Boston.com from Sept. 8 through Sept. 22 to vote for their favorite artists.

BITS & PIECES: Tonight Club Passim kicks off its ``Cutting Edge of the Campfire Festival" this Labor Day weekend, with more than 100 folk musicians taking over the stage for four days of performances. Go to www.clubpassim.org/campfire for a complete list of performers and set times. Tickets are $15 per day, $25 for the weekend. Andrea Gillis kicks off a month long Friday residency at Toad. The Sterns are at the Middle East Upstairs. Wheelers and Dealers are at the Plough & Stars. Fire for Effect is at the Kirkland Cafe. Tomorrow The Wandas hold a CD-release party at the Paradise Lounge. The Coachmen are at the Plough & Stars. Sunday The Ry Cavanaugh Band is at Toad.