The Birthday Party (The Birthday Party album)

The Birthday Party
Studio album by
The Boys Next Door / The Birthday Party
ReleasedNovember 1980
RecordedJuly 1979, January–February 1980
StudioRichmond Recorders, Melbourne
GenrePost-punk
Length32:00
LabelMissing Link Records
CBS Records
4AD
ProducerThe Boys Next Door, Tony Cohen, Keith Glass
The Boys Next Door / The Birthday Party chronology
Hee Haw (EP)
(1979)
The Birthday Party
(1980)
Prayers on Fire
(1981)
Alternative cover art
1982 Re-issue cover
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic
The Encyclopedia of Popular Music
The Rolling Stone Album Guide

The Birthday Party is a 1980 album credited to Australian rock band the Boys Next Door / the Birthday Party under both names as they were in transition between the names. The album was produced by The Boys Next Door, Tony Cohen, and Keith Glass; it was recorded with Cohen engineering at Richmond Recorders Studios in Melbourne from July 1979 to February 1980.

The album differs from the new-wave pop-punk style of their debut Door, Door (released the year earlier), moving towards the dark and chaotic post-punk style they would later become known for as The Birthday Party.

The album in its entirety has been reissued on CD as part of the Hee Haw compilation along with the Hee Haw EP. Two of the album's songs, "The Red Clock" and "The Hair Shirt" were originally included on the Hee Haw EP, released in 1979.