Interestingly enough, Screaming Trees and QOTSA muse, Mark Lenegan wrote the press release I have open on my computer. And what better endorsement for the grizzily, moth-eaten brand of pirate-rock taken up by the Burning Brides? Formed in 1996, by guitarist/singer/songwriter Dimitri Coats and bassist Melanie Campbell, The Burning Brides follow-up their hook laden debut album Fall of the Plastic Empire (2001) and difficult second album Fall of the Plastic Empire (2002) with a surprisingly fresh new album, Leave No Ashes (produced by the Brides with legendary producer George Drakoulious). Ghosts of Aerosmith and Cheap Trick abound on the journey, but as Lenegan himself says, every song is a ‘stone fucking monster’. Lenegan himself appears on final track, “Vampire Waltz“ – by far the classiest track on the album – and a spooky apocalyptic treat for those of us who enjoy a bit of mindbender theatre.
Although it would be fair to expect more than a passing resemblance to tour mates Marilyn Manson, Audioslave and The White Stripes, ‘Leave No Ashes’ often has more in common with daft old rockers like ZZ Top, Aerosmith and AC/DC with a generous sprinkle of Oasis walnuts by way of a topping – a hotchpotch of interests epitomized by the swaggering, raspy ravages of addled pop that is ‘Full Of Black’ and ‘Dance With The Devil’ and the razor-sharp riffage of hook-laden opener ‘Heart’. ‘Suicide’, alternatively, is part-Black Sabbath part-Stone Roses – the kind of conflation of styles that would ordinarily leave you groping for the ‘forward’ button. But not here. Not in the hands of these boys. Like a shag in your mother’s bed, it’s odd – but providing you don’t mind washing the sheets in the morning it kinda works. Good rock n roll should leave blisters on your ears – this album also provides the salt to rub into them. It’s corny at times – but it breathes fresh life into the hellraising ravages of rock with a spirit and an energy that only those with nothing to lose can provide.
This is pirate rock: tricksy, gregarious, unbalanced and thoroughly unapologetic. In fact, it’s a crunching, mighty vampire-circus of a record with enough falls and freaks to keep the rock and indie devil in you amused for a month or more.