Birds + Bee Stings is the second album by garage rock side project The Operation M.D., and is the follow-up to their first album We Have an Emergency. It was released digitally on the band's own label Mouth to Mouth Music on June 29, 2010, and was later re-released as a physical CD release in Canada on November 30, 2010.
Recording and release history
The band started recording the album on September 15, 2008, in Johnny Land Studios in Toronto, Ontario with sound engineer "Johnny", where they recorded the drums, bass and electric guitars, until mid-October 2008. Vocals and acoustic guitars were recorded by Todd Morse and Cone McCaslin independently in 5 days in January 2009, in an abandoned house they made into a home studio and called Boehlke's Bunkhouse, in Ajax, Ontario. In March, the band came back once again to Toronto, to finish recording some additional vocals at Cone's house. Recording of the album was officially finished in early April 2009. Mixing of the album began on May 5, 2009, with sound engineer Eric Ratz. On June 25, 2009, the band posted a blog entry on their Myspace page announcing that the mixing is now done on the new album, with 11 songs that were mixed by Eric Ratz at Vespa Studios, Toronto, Ontario, and 1 song that was mixed by Sum 41 frontman Deryck Whibley. They have announced that the album will be going into mastering by Scott Lake at Metalworks Studios, Mississauga, Ontario. On June 26, 2009, the band announced on their Twitter page that the mastering was finished and the album is now done. On July 11, 2009, the band said that they are starting to shop the album to labels to see who wants to put it out. On August 4, 2009, the band posted a blog entry on their Myspace page announcing that the new album is officially finished and is ready to be released. They also stated that they are now going to be concentrating on getting it released in the next few months. On August 23, 2009, the band posted a bit from a new song called "Imaginary Friend" on their Myspace page. On October 25, 2009, the band announced on their Twitter that they are figuring out the best way to release the album, and that they are also discussing ideas for the first music video off the album. On April 28, 2010, the band stated that they are working on the cover art and credits for the new album. On May 18, 2010, the band posted a new song entitled "We Stand" on their Myspace page. The song was recorded especially for the charity compilation. On June 3, 2010, the band has announced that the first single off the new album, entitled "Buried at Sea", will be released digitally worldwide on June 8, 2010. Ian D'Sa of Billy Talent has produced the song and played guitar on it. They have also revealed the single's artwork and the new album's title being Birds + Bee Stings. On the day of the single's supposed release, there were technical errors that have delayed the release of the single on the American and Canadian iTunes. The album was released digitally on June 29, 2010, on the band's own label Mouth to Mouth Music. The band has stated that no physical copies of the album are expected. On November 30, 2010, The band re-released the album as a physical CD release in Canada. As opposed to only being available digitally on its original release, the album was made available to purchase at stores, as well as on the Canadian iTunes, along with a new artwork. The new release was supported by a single show at the Horseshoe Tavern in Toronto, on December 21, 2010, as part of 102.1 The Edge's 'X-Mas Nu-Music Nite'.
