Music Review: Burnt Ones, You’ll Never Walk Alone

By Less Lee Moore

You’ll Never Walk Alone opens with the wonderfully titled, warped shimmy of “Glitter Death” and the clever lyric: tell all of your friends that this is the end/of all these stupid trends.

The first six tracks on the album weave in and out of each other so slyly they all seem like one glorious, extended song. A song that’s a three-dimensional rainbow tapestry of sonic bliss.

Burnt Ones recalls the psychedelia of both early Pink Floyd and T. Rex with more than a dusting of the latter’s primo glam rawk stomp, and lyrics to match (sample: Just like a sweater how you’re so together). At first those lyrics won’t make a whole lot of sense, but once you get into their groove, the crazy visuals they describe—”hypnotized and fried, licking glass perfumes”–will nag at you until you start to feel like you understand on some subterranean, emotional level.

As retro as Burnt Ones sound, with all the fuzz guitars and reverbed vocals, they’re also surprisingly contemporary, almost as if Tobacco went back to 1968. What’s most unexpected about the album is how even though it’s a good three decades since my beloved Love & Rockets were in their prime, I somehow feel like I understand that band in a whole new way.

It’s like Burnt Ones have opened some bizarre, music-powered wormhole, a feeling made even more intense by “Fountain of Youth,” which is not so much an homage, but more of a fresh retelling of Norman Greenbaum’s “Spirit in the Sky.” (And if you consider Doctor and the Medics’ 1986 version of that song, the whole idea of time travel begins to actually make sense.)

The songs vibrate and slither forward with hooky melodies, but frequently veer to the left and right, like the bridge that shows up at the end of “Cloak” or the “doo doo doo doo doo doo” chorus that introduces “I Care/I Don’t Care.”

After a half-hour of woofers and tweeters exploding in your eardrums into a million mirrored shards, the album finishes with the surprisingly delicate “Move On.” You’ll Never Walk Alone is rife with musical treasures and deserves to be on heavy rotation everywhere. Be sure to play this album loud.

You’ll Never Walk Alone was released through Burger Records on May 14. It’s available in digital form from the Burnt Ones Bandcamp page and on vinyl and cassette from the Burger Records website. Don’t forget to like the band on Facebook to keep up with news.

Tour Dates:
Tues. June 11 – San Francisco, CA @ The Eagle
Mon. June 17 – Seattle, WA @ Chop Suey
Wed. June 19 – Vancouver, BC @ Electric Owl Social Club
Thur. – Sat. June 20 – 22 – Calgary, AB @ Sled Island Festival
Mon. June 24 – Fargo, ND @ The Aquarium
Tues. June 25 – Minneapolis, MN @ The Hexagon
Wed. June 26 – Milwaukee, WI @ Mickey’s Tavern
Fri. June 28 – Indianapolis, IN @ Broadripple Park
Sat. June 29 – Cleveland, OH @ The Happy Dog
Sun. June 30 – New York, NY @ Death By Audio
Wed. July 3 – Cincinnati, OH @ The Chameleon
Thu. July 4 – Indianapolis, IN @ Secret July 4 House Show BBQ Bash
Sat. July 6 – Knoxville, TN @ The Pilot Light
Mon. July 8 – Atlanta, GA @ The 529
Tue. July 9 – New Orleans, LA @ The Circle Bar
Wed. July 10 – Austin, TX @ Hotel Vegas
Thur. July 11 – El Paso, TX @ Calavera Cafe
Fri. July 12 – Tucson, AZ @ TLMS
Sat. July 13 – San Diego, CA @ The Soda Bar