The members of the Ypsilanti-based indie alternative rock band Skeleton Birds celebrate the release of their second album,"The Silver Age," at the Blind Pig this Saturday.

Brothers Jonathan Edwards (vocals, guitar, piano) and Jeremy Edwards (drums) started Skeleton Birds in 2008. Just the two of them recorded the band’s first album, "The Owl," that year. Since 2009, band members Storm Ross (guitar, electronics), Jesse Tack (guitar, piano, percussion, vocals), and Scott Brown (bass) have been adding their talents to the mix and filling out the band's sound.

“Our sound has definitely changed from the first album to the new album,” Jonathan Edwards says. “'The Owl' was definitely composed differently because it was just me and Jeremy. We would layer sounds and record them, stacking ideas on top of ideas.”

Forming the full band allowed the brothers “to be able to play through most of the songs,” instead of layering and recording songs, he explains. “I think The Silver Age album is more complex, and there is a greater depth to the sound now that we have the full band. It’s definitely an album that reflects growth.”

Having a full band also “lets us bounce ideas around, which I think adds to the depth of the songs. I hear that on the new album—there are a lot more colors happening with 5 people. On some tracks there are extra musicians that came in and played, and when one of them has an idea about something we try it. It’s a true collaborative process,” Jeremy Edwards says.

Collaborators include cellist Brandon Cota and viola player Josh Holcomb, and Alex Truelove plays horn on a couple of tracks. After recording and mixing the album at a home studio, Skeleton Birds sent it off to be mastered by Abbey Road Studios engineer Adam Nunn, who has also mastered albums for big names like Radiohead, The Verve front man Richard Ashcroft, and Sir George Martin. The album’s artwork, including a cover featuring a National Geographic photo from the '60s, was designed by Jeff Clark, who runs book design company Quemadura.

The title of the album, which refers to the second of the “Ages of Man,” most commonly associated with Greek mythology and the poet Hesiod, “seemed to fit for a second album,” Ross says. “The idea behind it is that after a so-called golden age there often comes a silver age—whether it’s art, history, or politics. It’s a very inventive period but also often a tumultuous one ... It resonated with us.”

Their musical influences are many: They all like the Beatles and the Kinks, and band members are inspired by Nick Cave, Nirvana, experimental punk, psychedelic rock, and Radiohead. For Jesse Tack, “all of the '60s is a fascinating period. I got into obscure Hollies albums and the Kinks, even though I think the Beatles are the best. I also listen to a lot of experimental punk bands, but I think our sound is a little more refined than straightforward music like punk,” he says. He doesn’t mind when the band is compared to Radiohead, and “I absolutely hear that influence, but I don’t think our band has a derivative sound.”

The songs on "The Silver Age" do not follow any kind of unified theme; however, there are recurring ideas that pop up throughout the album. For example, the song “Motion Sickness” reminds Jonathan Edwards of “being stuck in my car in the middle of this swamped expressway of cars, just feeling really small and stuck. I kept having that image in my head when I was developing the lyrics for that song,” he says. “That feeling fed into the last song, “The Current Flows,” just being stuck in this perpetual motion. The song doesn’t ever quite arrive anywhere.”

“I think that the theme of claustrophobia is a theme that runs through a few of the songs,” Jonathan Edwards says. Then, on the flip side, “in the song ‘All My Love’ there is an expansiveness that is the opposite of that. It creates a vast space, which is an interesting juxtaposition.”

Skeleton Birds plans to play the entire album, “from start to finish, cover to cover” at the Blind Pig show. They are joined by local “fuzz pop” band The Boys Themselves and singer-songwriter Chris Bathgate. The Master of Ceremonies for the night will be Theo Katzman.

You can buy a copy of "The Silver Age" directly from Skeleton Birds at their CD release party or by shooting them a message or email via their Facebook page. An option to buy it off their website should be available soon. Copies can also be found at local record shops Underground Sounds and Wazoo Records. It is also available from major online retailers.

Skeleton Birds play the Blind Pig, 208 S. First St., on Saturday, August 6 (doors open at 9:30 p.m.). Cover: $7 (ages 18-20, $10).