Burnt Books: Burnt Books

Whatever you think of this new release overall, it's sure to challenge your expectations and stretch your ears. The music sounds like an amalgamation of punk rock and wild experimentation with both harmony and noise. It's not great music, but it certainly grabbed my attention because of its odd time signatures, constant rhythmic changes, unusual vocal style, and regular use of the banjo. Burnt Books describes themselves as a punk rock band; so they are, but don't come to this album expecting anything the kind of punk you've heard in the past.

Before going much further with my overall critique, I'd like to comment on a couple of tracks because of their thematic and musical connections. First up is "Liar," the unexpected lament played on the banjo by singer Zoe Lollis. The song seems to be about the narrator's (or singer's) mother, a woman who betrayed her two daughters and her husband. The song is made up of a few simple chords, played well enough but with a deliberate rawness that some listeners will surely find jarring. I liked this song somewhat, mostly because I was intrigued by the way Lollis complemented the lamenting sound of her banjo with her rapidly ascending and descending vocal style. Lollis conveys a vulnerability that is both haunting and also emotionally damaged. If you like this track, check out "Materialist Conspiracy Theorist," a somewhat softer lament, also performed by Zoe Lollis on banjo and vocals.

The next song I want to comment on is "Pretty Daughters," a track that is also about a betraying mother, her mistreatment of her two daughters, and her failed attempts to reestablish contact. This song is performed on traditional rock instruments, though the style is rhythmically unpredictable and the vocals are harsh and grating. I don't know whether these songs have any autobiographical components to them, but they form an interesting bond given their clearly stated rage at terrible mothers. Listen to "Pretty Daughters" at about the 2:30 mark for Lollis's dissonant outcries against her mother's attempt to come back into her life. There's a rawness and a passion here that I found simultaneously jarring and interesting.

The other tracks on the album play with similar musical ideas, all of them experimental, dissonant, and noisy. The success of this album depends entirely, in my opinion, on what listeners think of Lollis's vocals. She has the potential to develop a signature sound; her ability to convey great vulnerability and great rage may prove unique to some listeners. Nevertheless, the album as a whole is rather tough going, not something to enjoy time and again.

Track Listing:
1. Selfish Friend
2. Empty Eyes
3. Dig a Little Deeper
4. Materialist Conspiracy Theorist
5. Abandoned
6. In a Shallow Grave
7. Unforgiven
8. Liar
9. Golden Gates, Golden Streets
10. Pretty Daughters

Added: January 9th 2013
Reviewer: Carl Sederholm
Score:
Related Link: Band Facebook Page
Hits: 1880
Language: english

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