Upon first hearing ScotDrakula’s single “Burner”, it’s an entirely reasonable reaction for one to lose their shit a little.
It is after all, really really cool.
A combination of driving bass, jerky drums, slinky guitar melodies, twee backing vocals and trashy chords are perfectly complemented by frontman Matt Neumann’s howling vocals.
Together it all creates a near-perfect mix of groovy, psychedelic-garage noise.
The titular single from the groups’ first album as a three piece is arguably one of the best songs of the year; the rest of the album could be white noise and it’d still be worth $2 for the download. Thankfully, the rest of the record is rad too.
Burner opens with kazoo and vocal harmonies before bursting into the fun and frenzied “Ain’t Scared”, a song that’s all attitude and youthful defiance.
The album continues in this vein of quick-paced guitar tunes before the reggae tinged “Doors&Fours“, which chugs along as Neumann spouts bitter lyrics punctuated by the refrain of “I want to get high” until it all becomes too much for him and he bursts into a solo worthy of any modern guitar hero.
Closing tracks “Dynopskism” and “Stupid Everything” recapture the energy and ‘fuck it’ attitude the LP begins with and finish the record off nicely, while not quite reaching the heights of the album’s namesake.
Burner has some pretty damn impressive songs on it for ScotDrakula’s first release as a full band, and with a killer live show to back it up, This threesome may well be on their way to big things.
