The debut album from Perth melodic punk quintet Burning Fiction is 11 tracks of fast, melodic trend-free punk rock! This is a record fans of Strung Out, A Wilhelm Scream, Lostboyfound and Stand Defiant. facebook.com/burningfiction
Pressing:
500 x CDs
REVIEWS:
ThePunkSite [USA]
BURNING FICTION – Don’t Lose Touch
Australia’s Burning Fiction is the type of band I love running across at least a couple times a year. The group is a relatively new bare-bones punk rock upstart content to meaningfully contribute to a very well established and tight knit genre. In other words, the five-piece is clearly not in it to be the next big punk innovation, but rather to help respect and celebrate the legacy that became known as the distinct 90’s “Epi-Fat” sound. At its core, the band sounds precisely like what you would expect a group who cites Lagwagon, No Use For A Name, Strung Out, and A Wilhelm Scream as their favourite artists, to end up like. Vocalist Matty B. channels a distinct high-pitched Joey Cape/Tony Sly style that easily captures the sloppy and playful execution of their source material. The first two tracks, “Ode” and “Die Trying” ease the listener in with some fairly straightforward Lagwagon inspired melodies. Complete with blistering drumbeats and melodic guitar work, these tracks feel more like Lagwagon than anything Lagwagon has released over the past ten years. Then “Walk Hard” starts and a sudden barrage of ambitious metal guitar work explodes forth. Here a definite Strung Out influence immediately takes hold of guitarists Piper and Pete, as they create a multilayered, aggressive soundscape. The technique hits its pinnacle four songs later with “The Enlistment,” where guitar solos run rampant and technical ambition unfolds. To up the ante and further feed the fury Matty suddenly explodes into raw, throaty, A Wilhelm Scream-like cry. Despite wearing all of their influences on their sleeves, when Burning Fiction puts them together, they sound fresh and alive, and distinctly their own – imitation may be flattery, but amalgamation just outright sounds good. Lyrically, they’re right up there with their influences as well. Most tracks are introspective and politically charged. “With The Grain,” an obvious play off of the Bad Religion track titled oppositely, speaks of the consequences of conformity, and many others, like “Paper Scissors,” act as a call to moral arms and conscious – strong messages with a strong delivery. I suppose some may argue that Don’t Lose Touch trumpets a past sound, but personally I feel that there is always room for a skillful revisiting of past trends, making Burning Fiction an easy recommendation for those who enjoy revisiting that fast, aggressive 90’s Epi-Fat sound.
Rating: 4/5 – Review by: Cole Faulkner
AsIce E-zine [Netherlands]
BURNING FICTION – Don’t Lose Touch
Besides the amazing and underrated A Death In The Family, I am completely oblivious to the quantity and quality of Australian punk rock. These guys, from the isolated city of Perth in Western Australia, must love the mid to late nineties Fat Wreck sound because this record is full-blown tribute to that era. No Use For A Name, Lagwagon and Strungout and bands like that. Whereas their European counterparts mostly end up having some douchebag singing with a wimpy voice, Burning Fiction has the luxury of having Matt, a great and convincing singer who writes some great lyrics. Musically, it’s a trip down memory lane for a lot of us. Seriously. Fast, melodic punk rock. Didn’t we all grow up on that?
4 / 5 – Review by: xbootsmanx
AMP Magazine #40 [USA]
BURNING FICTION – Don’t Lose Touch
These skate punk rockers from Down Under deliver memorable 90’s style punk rock on their latest offering Don’t Lose Touch. Comparisons to U.S. contemporaries A Wilhelm Scream can immediately be drawn but the aggressive vocals give the record plenty of hardcore flare. If you’re a fan of riffy melodic guitar leads and speedy kick and snare this record is definitely worth a spin. As a kid who grew up on Thrasher skate videos, it definitely speaks to my roots.
Review by: JK
World’s Appreciated Kitsch [Greece]
BURNING FICTION – Don’t Lose Touch
Burning Fiction come from Perth, West Coast Australia and this is their 2nd full length album, following the self-released debut one called ‘Material’ (2007). The band is strongly influenced by the So-Cal scene, the Fat Wreck / early Epitaph back catalogue and acts like Lagwagon, No Use For A Name, Strung Out and NOFX. As you can figure out, there’s nothing groundbreaking or unique but just in your face melodic punk rock music, including some technical riffs and a huge rhythm section, plus very nice clean vocals and sing-along backups. Burning Fiction are surely in it for the fun and the pleasure of playing music and they seem dedicated enough. They lyrics are interesting and thought-provoking, too. If you dig this style of music, grab your skateboard and go shred some concrete while listening to ‘Don’t Lose Touch’. Labels like Pee Records puts Australian punk rock / hardcore music back in the map. Word.
Evilneedles.com [USA]
BURNING FICTION – Don’t Lose Touch
Defying trends has always been an admirable quality in punk rock. However, there is something to be said for keeping with the times. Australia’s Burning Fiction does a great job of avoiding dated, trendy cliches while maintaining a lively and up to date sound. There’s no mistaking the A Wilhelm Scream and Bad Religion influences, but the band injects just the right amount of original melody and lyrics to make it their own. The production really shines through on this album as they took a clean, but not polish approach. Had they gone any more low-fi or increased the compression on the vocals it could have been a disaster, but the end result is outstanding.
Lots Wife – Monash University Magazine
BURNING FICTION – Don’t Lose Touch
Opening in a sea of distortion and featuring a sound bite from the movie Donnie Darko, Burning Fiction’s Pee Records debut Don’t Lose Touch is a quality ride from start to finish. While high on speed and blazing guitar riffage, the band also manages to throw a fair bit of melody into the blend that should please fans of bands like Rise Against. Burning Fiction’s sound is highly reminiscent of bands like Strung Out and A Wilhelm Scream, blending high speed punk beats with metal-influenced guitar riffage. However, at times the band also manages to channel a sound highly reminiscent of Art of Drowning era AFI, which supplements their style nicely. Overall the instrumentation on this release is enjoyable simply because it is both technical and tight, qualities which do not always work well in tandem with one another in the punk scene. Highlights of Don’t Lose Touch include opener Ode, and the two mid-order tracks Two Finger Diet and Paper Scissors. While all of Burning Fiction’s songs appear to be played at hyper speed, these are coincidently the fastest of the lot. This band really just thrives when it is charging at full speed where their musical proficiency can be best brought to the fore. Overall, Don’t Lose Touch is a very excellent debut from this Perth quintet. With the album clocking in at just under half an hour, they definitely lend credence to the age old saying, “quality is better than quantity”.
Review by: Matthew Woodward
Lights Go Out Zine #6 [UK]
BURNING FICTION – Don’t Lose Touch
I’m getting a bit bored of this now, not Burning Fiction, more the fact that Pee Records keep finding these amazing punk rocks and putting their albums out. Burning Fiction are quite simply awesome, it has to be said. Definitely a huge nod to what used to be a typical Fat Wreck sounds with bands like Strung Out and No Use For A Name, but their sound has taken skate punk and evolved it, making it relevant for today. From opening track “Ode” the pace is blistering and they don’t really look back. There’s not a duff tune amongst the 11 on offer here. Seriously, this is a pretty darn sweet album, if you’re into your melodic skate punk then this is without a doubt something you should be checking out. Order it online from Pee Records, it’s got more punches than a Lennox Lewis fight.
Review by: Mr. T
Metior – Issue 5
BURNING FICTION – Don’t Lose Touch
Bands in Perth coming from the hardcore/punk genre have a tendency to walk a straight path which doesn’t display the same creativity and range that their peers in other genres have in forming Perth’s reputation in the music industry. Local melodic punk rockers Burning Fiction appear to drink from the same water as Perth’s much celebrated indie rockers in that they write songs that showcase diversity and creativity – possibly all of it that you could fit into the melodic punk sub genre. The five-piece’s debut album, Don’t Lose Touch, sees the bring out a full course of pop-punk to hardcore breakdowns to fuzzy palm-muted riffery to shout-alongs and it’s surprising at how well it all goes. Each track is a new subject in the ongoing tutorial on the spectrum of sounds that can emanate from an electric guitar, taught by guitarists Josh and Pete, with traditional melodic punk power chords alternating with buzzsaw heaviness and clean operatic licks. The vocal elements also adjust with this diversity, with Matt’s melodic vocals venturing into some hardcore-style yells as well as some tracks employing a dual vocal assault featuring Matt’s vocals splitting time with the abrasive roar of a counterpart or a fellow sweet-singer of different pitch. Although “Die Trying” attempts a powerful cry in the style of Zoli from Ignite that pushes his voice’s limit, the lyrics are mature, well-written and on interesting subject matter. The highlight track for me was “Walk Hard”, particularly the gang-vocal breakdown in the latter stages. Burning Fiction have created a diverse melodic punk album which seems to stem directly from the full range of influences you hear in their tracks. Their future could lie in harnessing their own sound out of their repertoire of styles, but by no means was this too diverse. I definitely recommend this album.
Review by: Nathan Verney
Ox-Fanzine #85 [Germany]
BURNING FICTION – Don’t Lose Touch
This five-piece from Perth Australia consists of former ska-punk and hardcore band members. Fortunaltely you notice the ska influences of BURNING FICTION only incidentally. Here we have some pretty cool melodic punkrock with an awesome HC touch, how it reminds of bands like LAGWAGON, PROPAGANDHI or A WILHELM SCREAM. Even the real big moments left on this debut: everybody who love the mentioned bands should like BURNING FICTION.
7/10 – Review by: Tim Masson
RELEASE DATE:
19 June 2009
Also Available From:
CREDITS:
CAT #: PCD029
Recorded, Mixed & Mastered by:
Aidan Barton @ Sovereign Studios
Artwork by: Scott Mellor
