Burn The Fleet

Burn The Fleet EP

Written by: TL on 21/04/2010 01:02:24

Some of you may remember how we talked about me visiting England to see Brand New earlier this year, and some might also remember that I added to my visit, a show at the 'Mo Club in Southampton, where I got to see some of the local talent, of which I was the most surprisingly impressed with the four-piece Burn The Fleet. Seeing as writing for this site makes it my job to unearth new talent and relay it to you, I quickly wrote the band after my return to Denmark, to get hold of a review of their first ever EP. This is that review.

As my description of the band's live-show also hinted, these boys' sound makes a pass at a very Thrice-ish expression, except like a tidal wave, Burn The Fleet's music is more lumbering, more threatening and more elemental in its nature. Translated from metaphor, that means it's slower and simpler, though it's important to notice that this doesn't mean it's bad.

Between tranquil moments, currents of crushing guitars and cinematic progressions, Burn The Fleet call out to the listener with three distinct voices. At the helm, singer/bassist Andrew Conway cries out with cleans that I have previously likened to both Dustin Kensrue and Dallas Green, while guitarist James Swabey stands first mate behind him, shouting in a similar manner to Jimmy Stadt (of Polar Bear Club) and the remaining crew members, Jack Spurway and Ross Barbour (on guitar and drums respectively), contribute on gang shouts when needed. Admittedly, the similarities to the mentioned singers are much less apparent on record than live, and curiously, Burn The Fleet are among the few bands who sound much better live than on record. Still though, this also doesn't mean that this EP is bad

In fact, for a debut, this EP is very good. Much in tone with both the band's name and this review's phrasing, the music does indeed imbue the listener with a nautical feeling, as the mood is as dark, vast and as susceptible to change, as the very sea. The vocals sound like voices of men who bravely face nature despite being overmatched by its power, and while Burn The Fleet's songs don't at all seem to be about the sea, or even use nautical terms, the sound, the band name and the title and lyrics of the song "Nautilus" is enough to set them up with that feeling for the duration of the EP.

If these colorful descriptions don't succesfully paint the picture however, know that you should be a fan if you like either Thrice, City Of Ships or Scream, Shout, Say Nothing. In particular the latter, who are however, bested by Burn The Fleet when it comes to memorable song writing. The aforementioned "Nautilus" needs only two or three listens to leave words in your mind. Unashamed crowd-anthem "Handfuls Of Sand" needs maybe one, and the remaining "Conduits", "Fictional Children" and "Confessions Of A Justified Sinner" aren't far behind, as they are at the very least highly enjoyable listens if not as memorable as the two others. Burn The Fleet may be a band just getting things started, suffering the downfalls of minimal production and slightly undeveloped songwriting, so I'm not going to pull a PP and try to convince you that they have much big band potential just yet. I am however going to say, that you should get this EP, because when a band has dynamics and refrains as brilliant as those on here, so early in their career, you'll be fuckin' annoyed later on, when they have too much great material on record for you to know where to start. Simply put, you should definitely get on-board this ship while it's still not too far from the docks.

Download: Nautilus, Handful Of Sand
For The Fans Of: Thrice; Scream, Shout, Say Nothing!; City Of Ships
Listen: myspace.com/burnthefleetband

Release Date 23.02.2010
Walnut Tree Records

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