Not even six months after the release of their debut album, The Namby Pamby were sharing photos of themselves working on the follow-up.

Unleashing Marketplace in late November 2022, sisters McKenna Parks and Emily Parks along with Payton Knerr were right back at the analog Off the Cuff Recording Studio with producer Jason Davis the ensuing April. 

“The first time we went in, it was with all the songs McKenna had written basically before (Emily and I) had started. So, they were like her solo songs,” Knerr said of Marketplace. “This one was way different because we wrote most of those songs in the studio. 

“When we booked our days with Jason, we only had maybe four songs written. Then, everything else, we wrote as we went along. I feel like that helped us creatively, hearing it in the headphones and nit-picking every little sound. It was really exciting.”

The result is The Birds Aren’t Migrating Like They’re Supposed To, which will be released to the streaming world Friday, Feb. 28.

“It definitely takes a little bit of a different direction,” vocalist/guitarist McKenna Parks said of the album. “Marketplace, I would definitely say is more alternative rock. On Marketplace, we were just trying to get things out. We had the songs and were like, ‘We’re recording these songs just so people can hear what we’re about.’ 

“On this one, I feel that after playing together a little over two years — you’re playing live, you’re practicing weekly — we figured out how to play together as a unit. I think the sound is affected with just us getting to know each other as sisters over the past couple years.”

Tough days in studio

When speaking with the trio for a story ahead of their debut in 2022, it became clear The Namby Pamby grew organically. And those roots have only dug deeper over the years, particularly while recording this album.

“We were roommates at that time,” bassist Emily said. “So, when we were in the studio, we were together working eight-hour days, went home, shared a refrigerator, and ate some snacks, and got up and did it again 12 days in a row.

“I think this album is a huge example of sisterhood and the bond that we developed from Marketplace being our jumping pad.”

Entering the studio with a vague idea for the album, the three really hunkered down at Off the Cuff.

“Chord progression and lyric-wise, I have a general idea, but as far as co-writing, a lot of the songs were taken into the studio and we workshopped what the song needed in that space,” McKenna said. “So, the songs had a general structure, but compared to Marketplace, this album didn’t really have the parts all set out right away.”

“I think we’ve learned The Namby Pamby works best under pressure,” Emily said.

And drummer Knerr felt that pressure on Day 1.

“We were just excited and wanted to get back in the studio and work on a new album,” she said. “But I remember the first day we were there, we wrote down all the tracks we wanted to come up with on a chalkboard. I remember looking at the chalkboard and thinking, ‘Holy s—, we have a lot to learn.’ But we did.

“There were some hard days. All of us individually experienced it writing our parts. It was really fulfilling workshopping it on the fly.”

Those hard days were emotionally draining.

“I think we all remember our ‘cry song,’ ”  Knerr said. “I remember the songs that kicked my ass and made me cry.

“Some of it is exhaustion. Some of it is the songs are actually f—ing heart-wrenching. So, listening to them loop over and over again for eight hours is kind of hard. Yeah, we’re creating this music for other people to feel, but it’s because we’re feeling it first. So, it is really grueling at times — grueling in a good way.”

“We asked (Davis), ‘Does anyone else cry?,’ ” Emily said. “Especially with this album, with the songs being so heavy, there was so much emotional weight on top of wanting to perform well. It was just a heavy burden and a heavy gift to be able to do it. It was hard. We were crying.”

Connecting with listeners

The weightiness of the songs is evident, as anyone that has gone through their 20s knows a lot can change in a couple of years. 

“I’ve changed so much from the beginning of last year, let alone when Marketplace came out,” McKenna said. “We are so proud of that album and how people enjoyed it. That was so overwhelming. (Payton and Emily) met at our first practice. How we’ve all grown together is another thing that makes this new album beautiful.”

And albums are a way for them to chronicle their lives.

“We record one song a day, and when that day is over, the song is over,” Emily said. “They’re almost time capsules. It’s easy to look back and say, ‘Maybe we should have lowered the vocal mix’ or ‘We should have added a cymbal here,’ but it was in that moment, and that’s what’s so special about it. 

“We recorded Birds the summer of 2023, and even releasing it in 2025, I can look back at it and be so grateful that we have these time capsules. We can look back and see how far we’ve come from even there. But those stories still resonant and the stories are still so valid.”

The stories definitely resonant. 

Even being together such a short time when Marketplace was released, the impact on listeners was clear. Shortly after performing at Middle Waves Music Festival at Parkview Field in 2023, I was sitting near the band when a fan approached them in tears, letting them know what they songs meant to her.

“I just hope that is what this record continues,” Knerr said. “The reason we do this is to connect with people and share our stories. I just hope people hear this record and connect with it, because that’s the only reason we’re doing it. We enjoy it, but it’s about connecting with people and making them feel something.”

Different feel

From the early listens, The Bird Aren’t Migrating Like They’re Supposed To will strike familiar chords with fans.

“Sound-wise, it’s just so tender,” McKenna said. “It comes from a very tender place, I think for all of us. We’re excited for people to hear it. 

“All we could want is for people to not feel alone in their deep feelings. It came from a very vulnerable place. That’s kind of a different root than Marketplace had. Marketplace was so fun. Yeah, it had its hard-hitters for sure, but it was fun, it was storytelling, it was inspired by other things. This one is just inspired by us growing.”

“Lucky Eyes” was the first single off the album, and the selection was a pretty easy one for The Namby Pamby.

“This was a song we had been playing since Marketplace,” McKenna said. “So, if anyone has seen our live shows, they know ‘Lucky Eyes.’ All of the local shows, we’ve played it in about every set, and we’ve been playing it as long as we’ve been playing our Marketplace songs. So, I think it was just one we were holding really dear. 

“And Ed, on those horns, it’s single-worthy.”

Ed is Ed Renz, and he’s not the only collaborator on the album. Peter Klopfenstein has his moment on the second single, “Misconstrued,” while the three said they gave Kyle Morris and his steel pedal carte blanche.

“We gave him pretty much no direction,” McKenna said. “We just gave him the album and we like, ‘Do it.’ ”

You can check out both songs on streaming services, with a video shot by John Wagner for “Lucky Eyes” also available on the band’s YouTube channel.