Burn The Evidence

This Troubled Road

Written by: PP on 16/02/2011 01:44:36

Rarely does one run across a band these days carrying as strong grunge rock vibes as England's Burn The Evidence do on their debut album "This Troubled Road". That's not to over-simplify and call Burn The Evidence a classic early 90s grunge band by any means, they merely sound a great deal like a number of bands from that era, most notably Nirvana, Mudhoney, and Hole's early output. While that certainly implies a yawning expression on the faces of those who never got to experience grunge and formally associate the term with bands like Puddle Of Mudd instead, make no mistake, the emotionally wrought rage boiling within Burn The Evidence's vocalist sounds extremely similar to the unparalleled rage of Kurt Cobain's pre-"Nevermind" material. And that, my friends, is the key ingredient that makes "This Troubled Road" such an enjoyable album to listen to despite its retrospective, somewhat dated sound.

Nirvana isn't the only band that Burn The Evidence reference, by the way. Opening track "The Take" should remind you of Refused's "New Noise", only in a slightly different tone and arrangement, but the inspiration is given away in the scream-pause-scream moments which reference the seminal moments from said track. "Misunderstood" is the first track where Burn The Evidence reference the grungy, coarse yelling style of Kurt Cobain from his best days in Nirvana, but shortly after the expression is a little milder on "New Disease", which recalls the first Hole record (if they had a male vocalist) with its cleaner verses. "Lost In Translation" displays a more experimental side to the band, hinting towards classic Boy Hits Car and their self-proclaimed genre of "lovecore", one where the band toys heavily with the quiet/loud concept and uses it to maximum advantage in a slow tempo environment. This is easily the best track on offer, and Burn The Evidence should seriously consider channeling some of that Nirvana/grunge fury into these slower, atmospheric tracks which have immense slow build ups to a climaxing explosion at just the right moments.

Overall though, "This Troubled Road" suffers from a few shortcomings. One these is inconsistency. Lot of tracks sound like classic bands you've heard before, which is okay, but they fail to stand proud in comparison. There are also a few songs that don't stick out at all. The second problem is the slightly shoddy production. This is an area where careful finesse is needed, because too much polish would remove from the passionate vocal delivery or the buzzing guitars, but as it stands now, it's a little too lo-fi to have as much power as would be desirable. That said, overall I'm liking this a lot, because like I said earlier, you don't get too many bands referencing the grunge era anymore, and regardless of what anyone tells you, I'd pick grunge over the fringe haircut obsessed modern 'scene' any day.

7

Download: The Take, New Disease, Lost In Translation, Misunderstood
For the fans of: Nirvana, Hole, Mudhoney, Boy Hits Car, Refused
Listen: Bandcamp

Release date 15.01.2010
Self-Released

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