The Real Burnouts”Post Show Post Traumatic Ultimate Mundane”2008 Cozy Home RecordsI know Paul Burnout personally. As a matter of fact, I consider him to be among the very small handful of people that I consider to be good friends. This is why I’m reluctant to review his new album. As I listen to it now, though, I think “Ah, fuck it. He deserves his due.” So here it is.For starters, the name of the album pops out at you and demands your attention before you even put the disc on. As stated before, I’ve known Paul for a while, and from the many times that I’ve seen him after a show, I’d say that “post traumatic ultimate mundane” is the best way to describe the general mood of the whole band after stepping off of the stage; Paul having rendered himself voiceless and all Burnouts without exception exhausted from their all-out performance and disappointed with getting ripped off. Again.The album starts with the traditional Burnouts sound: An electric guitar tuned askew and plugged directly into the mixer, achieving a dry, jangly sound that is unique to this band. As the other instruments come into the mix, it’s quite apparent that Paul has been paying close attention to production, and deftly utilizing his new setup of eight recording tracks as opposed to four. Guitars swirl and drums pop crisply with cymbals washing perfectly in the mix. A living testament to the fact that tape recording is far from dead, Paul gives us a reason to lift up our Tascam machines and sound the call to battle against all that is digital. The thing that I enjoy most about the Burnouts, and have since the beginning, is the honesty in the music. No metronomes, no cut and paste editing, and many times entire songs consisting of take one from each track. Mistakes are made, and sometimes obvious, but these little goofs ultimately amount to the crown jewel of each track, boldly and proudly proclaiming that human beings really can make good music. And it doesn’t have to be perfect to be brilliant.Lyrically, Mr. Burnout again proves why his music never disappoints. The most lyrically introspective album since “Transparent Mirror”, Paul hits us with bits of 20/20 hindsight like “starry-eyed and full of pride/I should’ve known how it would go/I should have just stayed home” and tongue-in-cheek references like “I hope I die before I grow mold” in the song “I Don’t Want What Another Man Has”. The single “Adrenilene Hormone” (typo intentional), which has been featured on the Daydream Generation Vol. IV, begins with a wonderfully dreamy bit of guitar work, tapping the fretboard to give the song a popping, chiming foundation for Paul’s uplifting brand of quiet psychedelia. One of the few lighthearted songs on this album, it’s a touching tribute to love as a drug that many have attempted, but few have really succeeded in making interesting. The song “Superficial Touch” may become Paul’s latest sleeper hit, while my personal favorite track, “I See You” is an obvious goof. Mostly improvised, it showcases Paul’s gift for coming up with psychedelic pop weirdness at the drop of a hat… Or roach or empty can of Utica Club, or whatever he may feel like dropping at any moment.In conclusion, buy “Post Show Post Traumatic Ultimate Mundane” by The Real Burnouts. But only if you like dreamy melodies, shoegaze song structure, and an all around good feeling after listening to an album. And who doesn’t like that?-Monty Leuthausen
Post Show Post Traumatic Ultimate Mundane
available at www.cozyhomerecords.com sometime soon
I was going to ask who wrote this, but then I remembered seeing the name Monty in association with someone who definitely would write about the Real Burnouts (hint: their only non-sexual groupie). As for the new LP I can’t wait to hear it! I hope to see Paul and get a copy when I’m in Utica next weekend.
Well, I wouldn’t exactly call myself a groupie… Or Mike Zombek for that matter… Guess again!!!
Shit. You mean “Monty” isn’t real?
What about “Rinse, Lather, Repeat” magazine? Is that real? I really hope it is.
If it isn’t we should make it real.
Really.
Shit now I’m the bad guy? I was just quoting your exact words as I misremembered them exactly.
Actually I meant to write “gropy” anyway, and accidentally typed “groovy”.
Also, I apologize for starting my message with “Shit,” when Smally also started his messages with “Shit,”. I also apologize for Germany’s invasion of Sweden in 1944, and the stain on your aunty’s bed sheet.
gropee (the one who gets groped).
groovy.
Wow, you Americans are a complex lot. It’s like a whole other language sometimes (except when you start a sentence with “shit”).
Apologies accepted. Except the Swedish bit. I can’t really speak for an entire country I have no relation to. And the Aunty bit for that matter too.
Any strange sounds cooking over at the Levy household these days?
You know what, Smally? I just realized that my sole reason for writing the word “aunty” was that it rhymes with Monty. That and the very real incidents that I won’t get into at this time. Now how meta is this? What nationality is Leuthausen anyway, Monty?
“Any strange sounds cooking over at the Levy household these days?”
Oh yes! The new External World cd-r is out any day now, and we are very pleased, even smug, about our Shit. But I say smug in a sincerely voracious way. And by “sincerely” I really mean “enkindled” with stochastic or fractal/spaszsodic implications). The working title (and this could change) is Times New Roman. We didn’t realize it at the time but it explores a theme of ambitious adventures that are all somehow deeply rooted in folly.
Nice working title, I like that a lot.
What on earth is stochastic implications? In layman’s terms. Imagine you are talking to a cheese shoveller in a cheese factory.
Exciting times in Cozy Homeland – new Burnouts and new External World… you can’t argue with that.
I bet he is a Swede. And I guarantee old Mr. Evasion will try and cover it up. Just like him, old Monty. Never walks in a straight line.
“What on earth is stochastic implications”
Ok, I’ll chip that you grab my dribble on the note of abstrabtion, righ? Well then, shovel this for some cheese. Think of a plosion– plosive right? Now consider the fraphrodill when claffs primp out fast at 5:03 just after dawn. Zen for a zen the bomb. The bomb brings and brings, until we have all been brought out big. When one abstrabs the non-orderliness of each element, each fluff of chizz brings. It brings alright. It brings big. And what you get? Stochastic implications.
And that wouldn’t be the first Pretty Things reference on this web page.
Wow. I’m glad that I can spark a conversation just by one flippant remark.
I’m not Swedish, by the by. All apologies accepted, nonetheless.
Group Grope/Grope for Peace
groping in the wilderness
Is it the inevitable by-product of this being a Real Burnouts post that dialogue like this exists?
thanks for the review monty. always with the nail on the head, you are!!! just a reminder for all of those not “lucky” enough to have heard the new album yet, it has not been officially released yet. be sure to check cozyhomerecords.com in april to secure your place in history.