Burning Down Vegas - I Should Have Done This Sooner
Posted Sat 20 Sep 2008 14:49 by lazarus.
Coming from the wilds of West Berkshire and describing themselves as Neo-Death Punk, Burning Down Vegas were a band that unsurprisingly were unknown to me. I’m not even sure what Neo-Death Punk was, but I was about to get a lesson in how hard and in your face music should be played. Not normally my area of expertise, but I do like a challenge. These rock warriors create their music from core elements of fast and unrelenting razor wire guitars, drums that charge headlong into the fray, solid back beats and frantic vocalisation. But even if those musical building blocks seem to be par for the course these day, its how you put them together that really makes a difference and Burning Down Vegas manage to come up with not only their own sound but fire off a couple of real gems along the way. “Give My Regards” stands out from the crowd even on first hearing, its distinctive twin vocals and spiralling musical lines make for a memorable experience.
What is also surprising is that just when you think that you have these guys pegged as being solidly generic, they manage to throw out a real curveball. “Séance with a King” is a simple piano lead dark reflective ballad of sorts, from when ballad was not a dirty word, before the likes of Boyzone had milked all of the passion and class from such a style. And then the band drag the song kicking and screaming back into their familiar territory and it rocks out like a beast, still having the imagination to end with an acoustic guitar play out.
“It’s Life” has all the hallmarks of classic rock, classic rock that had been put through a blender, given an injection of adrenaline and then been given a reason to get really pissed off about something. This song for me is the band at their best. Might be something to do with my age and taste, or just that it’s a bloody good tune and a great musical thrash out.
All in all, “I Should Have Done This Sooner” is a great piece of work, one that mixes punk, rock, metal and attitude into a slick and sleazy bitch of an album. The fact that the band have recently decided to call it a day is a real shame but if this standard of consummate musicianship is present a such an early stage in the guys career, who knows what some of them will achieve next.
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