Review: Burning Borders – ‘Yesterday’s Gone’

Posted: September 22nd, 2009
Contributed By: Nick

	Purchase @ iTunes Release Date: September 1st, 2009 on Thorny Bleeder Records
	Burning Borders starring: Brian Reed (Vocals) Justin Griffiths (Guitar) Mike Guerico (Bass) Levi Catroppa (Drums)

Produced by: Tim Neuhaus

Knowledge: TuneLab bros Burning Borders are part of the flourishing Vancouver, Canada music scene. The band’s rookie effort ‘Truth and Logic’ hit in 2006, and slowly but surely people started noticing. Thorny Bleeder Records decided to strike while the Burning Borders iron was white hot, inking the band in 2008 for the release of their sophomore LP. And a year and change later, the new album was born ‘Yesterday’s Gone’.

Turn-Ons: “Disposable” is all business, with a standout, humbly catchy chorus embellished by inventive drumwork and ethereal synth hits. “Disposable” unlocks some giddy-up around the second pre-chorus, a well timed, well executed arrival that segues perfectly into its wicked guitar solo and drummer Levi Catroppa’s Mike Wengren-esque tom work. “Leading” boasts a fat mix and an impressive performance by front-man Brian Reed, who carries nearly the entire melody of the song single handedly. Burning Borders’ dual axe-men Justin Griffiths and Mike Guerico fuel the zeal of “Follow”, frosting the tune with surging, accented riff potpourri that covers thrash, sludge, pop and everything in between. “Yesterday’s Gone” is Levi Catroppa’s big day, executing every fill completely flush with the band. Even more stupendous is the drum sound L-Cat and the album engineer achieve on the title track, creating an incredibly deep and focused sound that hits with force. Melancholy and winsome, “Stay” rallies behind a mammoth chorus nesting a potentially dangerous hook. Brian Reed’s vocal work on “Stay” is stellar, as is a simple guitar solo that does its job. “Stay” is a song made by teamwork and it shows. “Beauty School Drop Out” fools you at verse ends, completing a crescendo before immediately dropping out into a melodic, windswept chorus. The song’s storybook lyrics are phrased just right, held together comfortably by a warm, rich acoustic guitar tone protruding from the mix.

Turn-Offs: “Beautiful” is an interesting case. The tune’s chorus is so strong that it actually buries the true hook, which arrives unannounced in the pre’s. Burning Borders try to make up for the boo-boo by letting Brian Reed belt out random screams of “beautiful!”, which only makes things ickier. Drums are unjustly neglected and abused on “Sleep” as snare hits are forfeited in favor of cruddy Casio-claps at one avenue, while the entire drum mix gets avalanched on just prior to the final chorus. Why the drums, why?! “Give Up” has all the right tools to be a super catchy number, but Burning Borders are too hellbent on “heavying” up as many parts as they can that they miss the real picture “Give Up” paints. Although “Cold” has a strong, able-bodied engine under its hood, Burning Borders total the car. “Cold” makes zero sense to me and in general, with a patchwork arrangement that’s all over the place. To their credit, you can hear Burning Borders genuinely trying to push the limits of “Cold.” However the band want to be too many things at once, as abrasive clashing sends “Cold” into a nosedive.

Valedictorian: “Beauty School Drop Out”

Salutatorian: “Stay”

FAIL: “Cold”

Cool Points: Burning Borders take a trip south of the border for the verses of “Beautiful” and I mean way south-think Latin America, a trip well worth the fiesta. “Last Inhale” has some wicked moves, throwing a little White Zombie at you for the intro and then pop, lock, drop and lean back to the hip-hop groove that makes the core of “Last Inhale” bounce. Also deserving cool points is Burning Borders’ manager Disa Cameron, as she is one of the hardest working managers/PR people in the business.

Moral of the Story: Burning Borders are a good band, that’s all there is to it. And you know why they’re a good band? They work their ass off. There’s a reason why Burning Borders went from jam sessions in the basement to a label-backed album cycle number two in less than half a decade. Plus Burning Borders hails from a Vancouver market where there is a surplus of really, really good talent to be heard. I know the Burning Borders behind the music has nothing to do with ‘Yesterday’s Gone’ but it just goes to show that if you want it more than the next guy, more than anybody else, you’re eventually going to get it. ‘Yesterday’s Gone’ might just be that for Burning Borders. Sure, the album is full of growing pains and biting off more than the band can chew sometimes. However you can’t forget that Burning Borders are still a young band, with plenty of growing left to do. And I have no doubt that Burning Borders will continue to reach new milestones with each day.

TuneLab Rating: 7 out of 10