Forgotten Album of the Month: Burden Brothers

Forgotten Album of the Month: Burden Brothers

Now this might seem a bit premature considering it was released in 2002, but it fell so far below the radar that it deserves a second chance. Formed from the ashes of the Toadies, the Burden Brothers came together rather quickly beginning in September of 2001 until the fall of 2003, when their debut, Buried in Your Black Heart was released. Despite the band’s relative newness, the album kicked to life with a sound and fury that honestly had not been heard since the Toadies’ Rubberneck in 1994.

Kicking off with the title track, Vaden Todd Lewis and company start slamming around within the first few seconds. The rhythmic fury and quickness is so intense it might take some a few minutes to begin to comprehend it all. By the time “Shadow” comes on, you’re expecting another bit of aggressive alternative rock but the band surprises a bit and slows things down a tad but not too much as the song is still fiery as hell. Then to top off the trifecta, “Beautiful Night” begins and is much slower than “Shadow” but still has a ferocity about it that’s something to be admired.

But by far the best song on the record and the best way of perfectly capturing the band’s essence is “Conditional,” which begins as a ballad but by the end it starts chugging along like a freight train and seems incapable of stopping. The whole album is like that in many ways, except for a few dull songs in the middle, the whole thing just kicks from beginning to end and almost refuses to let up. The fact that the band seemed incapable of breaking through to the mainstream I guess is an indication of what I call ‘the curse of the Toadies.’ The band’s second album, Mercy, was a more streamlined affair and didn’t get the band anywhere. Vaden subsequently reformed the Toadies but promises the Burden Bros. will be back. Let’s hope so cuz there’s still so much musical ass to kick!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R6Vj_MkmQlk (Beautiful Night)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dn8CskiDmFw (Shadow)

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