With Burnout King, Burlap have created
a record that sounds like a disgruntled and deranged teenager teetering on the
verge of going postal. It’s actually menacing to listen to at times, the way
the best hard rock or hardcore should be.
The first two songs Snotty and Don’t
Touch Me sound exactly like their titles and set the scene but
it’s Single Mothers and the albums first single Good
Boy where this precocious teen really hits its stride.
The refrain of the latter “I’m a good boy / I
keep my mouth shut” becomes more and more insistent as the song progresses
while the guitars almost become more subdued, providing an interesting
juxtaposition.
It’s the dynamic shifts that I really love with
this band. There are times when an unexpected change completely transforms the
feeling of the song. Take Bubbles for example; the records
fifth track starts off sounding like the breakdown to a death metal song then
somewhere around the midway point we’re lulled into a false sense of comfort by
some pretty sounding guitar parts before being dropped right back where we
started in the final minute of the track.
When I first heard Burlap on their 2014 demo I
thought they sounded something like The Jesus Lizard or Killdozer,
and I guess they still kinda do, but with this album I hear more of a comparison
to acts closer to home like Pale Heads or early Witch
Hats.
The release comes to us from Blackwire (and Trait
Records), a label that started around a collectively run record store in Sydney
where the band have frequently played since their formation and features
artwork from Melbourne based singer-songwriter and illustrator Jess
Locke. Fans of loud, sludgy rock music and a penchant for misanthropy will
really get a kick out of Burnout King.
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