The Birthday Massacre

From left to right: Owen, Falcore, Chibi, O.E, Rainbow, and Rhim

"I wore my black and white dress to the birthday massacre, birthday massacre, birthday... I wore my black and white dress..."

—Happy Birthday

The Birthday Massacre are a Canadian synthrock/alternative band who formed in 1999 under the name Imagica and changed their name in 2002. As the band wrote on their official website:

The Birthday Massacre is an audio/visual project that has been in development since 1999. The sights and sounds of the Birthday Massacre branch into the wide range of creative themes and blend together a colorful palette of music genres and contrasting imagery. By combining imagery, sound, fashion, and performance, we aspire to create an experience for our audience that is both unique and multifaceted. Through the use of creative media, we've developed a world inspired by emotion, memories, satire, horror, romance, fantasy, nostalgia, and tragedy; a world we hope to evolve and explore for a long time to come.

And they are awesome.

Their line-up is:

• Chibi- vocals
• Rainbow- guitar
• Michael Falcore- guitar
• Nate Manor- bass
• Owen (Formerly spelled O-en)- keyboards
• Rhim- drums

Former members include:

• Dank (1999-2001)
• Adm (2002-2004)
• Aslan (1999-2007)
• O.E. (2000-2010)

Their discography is:

• Nothing and Nowhere (2002, rereleased in 2004)
• Violet (2004)
• Walking With Strangers (2007)
• Looking Glass (EP, 2008).
• Show and Tell (live album/DVD, 2009)
• Pins and Needles (2010)
• Imaginary Monsters (EP, 2011)

And their DVDs are:

• Blue (2005)
• Show and Tell (2009)

The video for "Blue" now has its own page. Because it's just that epic.

The Birthday Massacre provides examples of the following tropes:

• A Good Name for a Rock Band: their name came from the original title of "Happy Birthday".
• Anti-Love Song: "Burn Away"
• Album Title Drop: Show and Tell is a line from "Kill the Lights" ("This story's missing a wishing well/no mirror to show and tell")
• All Just a Dream: The video for "In the Dark" or so it seems.
• Ascended Meme: The rabbit logo started out as nothing more than a loading screen on the band's website, and was never intended to be anything other than an interesting thing to look at while the site loaded. Fans got other ideas, and started showing up to performances wearing bunny ears; eventually the band decided Sure Why Not and incorporated it into their album art.
• Ax Crazy: The protagonist of "Happy Birthday."
• Berserk Button: TBM fans don't tend to like it when people hurt the band in any way. They really don't.
  • Also, the fans really, really hate it when people post the band's real names online. It ruins the magic.
  • Don't mention Black Veil Brides on the forum. Just don't.
• Break Up Song: "To Die For", "Kill the Lights", "Always", "Secret", "Forever", "Left Behind"
• Canada, Eh?: Mostly averted, although in one interview they do have an argument over how to pronounce "about".
• Common Knowledge: There are no videos for "Velvet" and "Make Believe". Some fans believe that there are, but the two videos thought to be "Velvet" and "Make Believe" are old demos of "Blue" and "Violet".
• Cover Version:
  • "I Think We're Alone Now" for the Looking Glass EP.
  • The Neverending Story theme song.
  • "Last Daze" by Left Spine Down.
• Creepy Doll: The dolls in "Blue". And "In the Dark".
• Dark Is Not Evil: despite the dark lyrics and (occasionally) dark music, TBM are known as friendly, funny and really nice.
• Easter Egg: Their old site, Nothing and Nowhere, had an Easter Egg in each section of the site.
• Embarrassing Nickname:

Owen: When I first joined the band, they called me 'Waffles'...

• Everyone Went to School Together: Of the band's present line up, all but Falcore attended the same college in London, Ontario. Despite this, Chibi and Rainbow are apparently the only ones who knew each other before this period.
• Exactly What It Says on the Tin: "Lovers' End" is about... well...
  • YMMV perhaps, but it seemed more like the girl was cheated on and then took her revenge by locking her (former) lover in a celler, which eventually led to the boy suffocating to death.
• Fading Into the Next Song: All of Walking With Strangers and Pins and Needles. From the other albums:
  • Nothing and Nowhere: "Promise Me"-> "Under The Stairs" -> "To Die For".
  • Violet: "Prologue" -> "Lovers End" -> "Happy Birthday", and then "Violet" -> "Red", and then "The Dream" -> "Black" -> "Holiday" -> "Nevermind".
• Fan Disservice: Chibi's severed head at the end of the "Blue" video.
• Fan Service: Chibi
• Face Heel Turn: The Doll in the video for "In the Dark" seems like a friendly character, but in the end of the video she returns and kidnaps Chibi.
• Fingore: The first couple of lines of "Midnight" go "I can't decide. Which one of us will leave here alive? Your fingers breaking as I place them over mine."
• Fractured Fairy Tale: "Kill the Lights".
• Girlish Pigtails: Chibi has these occasionally.
• Hair-Raising Hare: The artwork of each album features at least one Franken-bunny.
• Hot for Student: The main character, 6, in the video for "Looking Glass" has a crush on the teacher.
• If I Can't Have You: Seems like the protagonist of "Queen of Hearts" is like this.
• Instrumentals: "Black", "Red", "Prologue", "The Night Loop", "The Spooky Loop", "Before Dark (Intro)", "Nowhere"
• Keep Circulating the Tapes: There are certain songs which can only be downloaded off the Internet due to never making it to an album- (or only being on the demos, but those are so rare that getting a demo would be almost impossible...) TBM's cover of the theme to The Neverending Story, "Nothing and Nowhere", "Nighttime", and "Queen of Hearts", for a start.
• Killer Rabbit: Their logo.
• Kindhearted Cat Lover: Chibi.
  • In one interview, the band was asked what they missed most while touring. The guys all said their girlfriends. Chibi said her cat.
• Last-Note Nightmare
• "London, England" Syndrome: The band began in London, Ontario. At least one interviewer confused this with London, England.
• Lyrical Dissonance: They practically thrive off this trope.
• Malevolent Masked Men: the teacher in "Looking Glass."
• Mind Screw: the videos for "Looking Glass" and "Blue".
• Mood Dissonance: "Blue" whiplashes between light, airy verses with upbeat keyboard accompaniment and a much heavier chorus with dark lyrics sung in something approaching a growl. It's jarring, creepy, and cool.
  • And "Broken", which has Chibi singing sweetly on the verses and much deeper on the chorus.
• Murder Ballad: "Lovers' End", "Happy Birthday"...
• Music Box Intervals: "Blue".
• My Nayme Is: Owen, who used to spell it O-en.
• Nerds Are Sexy
• Neoclassical Punk Zydeco Rockabilly: At least a third of the youtube comment sections for any of their songs will be people arguing about their genre.
• Nightmare Fetishist: The entire band.
• No Name Given
• Non-Appearing Title: "Looking Glass", "Science", "Movie", "Queen of Hearts", "The Dream", "Sleepwalking", "Secret", "Midnight"
• Ominous Music Box Tune: "Blue".
• One of Us: Chibi is a Sailor Moon fan and Rhim plays Pokemon.
• Only Known by Their Nickname
• Performance Video: "Nevermind."
• Perky Goth
• Power Ballad: "Movie"
• Rape as Drama: "Nevermind"
• Rape Is Love: Possibly "Queen of Hearts"
• Rhyming with Itself: The chorus of "Shallow Grave":

We put her down in a shallow grave
She wears a dress like a body bag, every day
And this way she won't have to run away
And she can keep her regrets at bay, every day.

• Sailor Fuku: Chibi in the video for Looking Glass
• Shout-Out: In the beginning of "Video Kid", the beeping noises sound identical to the ones made by the grandson playing the video game in the beginning of The Princess Bride.
• Signature Song: "Happy Birthday" or "Blue"
• Soprano and Gravel: Your Mileage May Vary on whether her growling can qualify as gravel, but "Blue" is definitely an example of this.
• Stage Names
• Stepford Smiler: Discussed in "Play Dead".

Thinking hurts and thoughts don't rhyme
For those of us who've never tried
To find a face behind our lipstick smiles.
And as our pretty faces die,
Our broken hearts will wonder why
The makeup just won't hide the scars of time.

• • And possibly "Promise Me".
    • And possibly 'Sleepwalking'
• Subdued Section: "Forever", "Burn Away", "Blue"
• Surreal Music Video
• Take My Hand: The video for "In the Dark" has this, though before their hands touch, the Doll is dragged away by an unknown force.
• Team Pet: Gangle, Chibi's toy. From this video:

Rainbow: I think Gangle brings peace to Chibi.
Chibi: I bet you Gangle brings peace to us all.
Rainbow: I don't think we realise it. I think consciously, like I think that Gangle brings peace to you because you're his caretaker.
Chibi: Yeah.
Rainbow: But it's kind of like having...
Chibi: But it's kind of like having a little friend, like a little...
Rainbow: Gangle's like a little mini-Buddha.
Rhim: He's good to talk to.
Rainbow: I don't talk to him.
Chibi * talking over the top of them* : A few years ago, we were playing and he came flying out of the crowd, right at me, and I looked into his eyes.
Rhim: Arms wide.
Chibi: Arms wide.

• Teens Are Monsters: "Play Dead"
• Torture Always Works: "Midnight" has the line '"The only thing I need is time/to change your mind," I said'. Combined with the line about 'your fingers breaking as I place them over mine'... yeah.
• Twist Ending: How many people thought the video for "Blue" would end with a shot of Chibi's severed head lying several feet from her body?
• Villain Protagonist: The POV Character of "Happy Birthday", and quite possibly the protagonist of "Midnight" too.
  • And maybe the protagonist of "Blue".
• What Do You Mean It Wasn't Made on Drugs?: The "Blue" video.
• Yandere: The protagonist of "Blue" gives off major yandere vibes.
  • Also possibly the protagonist of "Midnight".
• You Are Number Six: A literal case in the "Looking Glass" video- the main character's mask bears the number 6, and we have no clue as to her identity, or anyone else's, for that matter (all the students wear identical masks with numbers.)