Published on Jan 10, 2001
Anyone who has seen
This Is Spinal Tap at least once will undoubtedly remember
the live performance of “Big Bottom”. What made this song unique
wasn’t the use of guitars – especially since none were used.
Instead, the song featured three bass guitars along with keyboards
and drummer-of-the-moment, an effect which had surprisingly amazing
results musically.
With that concept in mind, enter New York-based Burn Guitars and
their self-titled four-song demo. Does the effect of three bass
players and a drummer have the same effect? Sadly, the answer is
no… but it’s not from the band’s lack of trying.
Bassist/vocalist Papabois, bassist Dr. Bitz, bassist Scott
Redeeming and drummer G-spot make up this experimental group, who
freely admit they’re pushing sonic limits while having some fun
musically. And you can hear in these songs that there is a spirit
of irreverence that permeates this project, not unlike the work of
Primus, 24-7 Spyz or Limbomaniacs. Tracks like “Old Ways New” and
“Sleeve” show that there is merit to the three-bass attack, and
that if anyone is going to succeed with this format, it’s going to
be Burn Guitars.
Unfortunately, their gimmick also shows its limitations –
namely, the failure to develop a solid melody, especially on
“Shoat”. At times, it almost sounds like all three bassists are
playing the same line – and while it does make the notes ring out,
it also stifles the tune. I’d have preferred to hear each bass
trying something different with the melody to develop the songs –
hey, a
fictional band was able to do that.
Does this mean that Burn Guitars failed in their project?
Absolutely not – but first attempts in any experiment rarely yield
the optimal result.
Burn Guitars shows that there’s merit in continuing the
experiments… but until then, back to the lab, Dr.
Frankenstein.