#burnt tapes

[underground-hip-hop-affiliated]

(BURNT TAPES)

[underground-hip-hop-affiliated]

(BURNT TAPES)

[thoughtswordsaction]

Burnt Tapes Return With Reinvigorated New Single “MOTHERSGUILT”

Photo courtesy of the band. London based punks Burnt Tapes have announced their sophomore album ‘New Lungs’ out August 8th on Wiretap Records / Lockjaw Records and Nasty Cut Records. The first single from the new album, “MOTHERSGUILT,” is now streaming everywhere. “MOTHERSGUILT” paints a vivid picture of internal struggle, pressure, and disillusionment— dealing with themes of mental…

Burnt Tapes Return With Reinvigorated New Single “MOTHERSGUILT”

[the-burnt-tapes]

Omaga Hetch.

I need.

To squish you.

-🫀

SYSTEM ERROR. MESSAGE UNRECIEVED. PLEASE TRY AGAIN.

[the-burnt-tapes]

Hetch, thoughts on murder?

-🥔

ᴹᵘʳᵈᵉʳ? ᴸⁱᵏᵉ... ᵃˢ ᵃ ᵖˡᵒᵗ? ᴹᵘʳᵈᵉʳ ⁱᵗˢᵉˡᶠ ⁱⁿ ˢᵒᶜⁱᵉᵗʸ ⁱˢ ᵖʳᵒᵇᵃᵇˡᵉ ᵇᵘᵗ ᵗᵉᶜʰⁿⁱᶜᵃˡˡʸ ⁱⁿ ᵖˡᵒᵗ. ᴵ ˡⁱᵏᵉ ᵐᵘʳᵈᵉʳ ᵐʸˢᵗᵉʳⁱᵉˢ ᵃⁿᵈ ˢᵘᶜʰ ⁱⁿ ᵗʰᵉ ᵐᵉᵈⁱᵃ, ʳᵉᵃˡ ᵒʳ ᶠᵃᵏᵉ... ⁱᶠ ᵗʰᵃᵗ ⁱˢ ʷʰᵃᵗ ʸᵒᵘ ʷᵉʳᵉ ᵃˢᵏⁱⁿᵍ, ᵒᶠ ᶜᵒᵘʳˢᵉ.

⁻ᴴᵉᵗᶜʰ

[the-burnt-tapes]

grrrr /silly /j

-🪴

ₒₖₐy? ᵢ wₐₛ ₜₒₗd ₜₒ ₜₐₖₑ ₛₒₘₑ qᵤₑₛₜᵢₒₙₛ ₐₙd ᵢₙₚᵤₜₛ... ₙₒₜ wₕₐₜ ᵢ ₕₐd ᵢₙ ₘᵢₙd bᵤₜ ₒₖₐy.

-ᴴᵉᵗᶜʰ

[punkrockmixtapes]

Burnt Tapes - Little Sister (feat. Hannah Hermione Greenwood)

[saymoretv]

TW - Suicide

- I’m not sure how I stumbled across Burnt Tapes but I assume it was trawling for some new pop-punk / melodic punk bands on Bandcamp. I do remember  being surprised at a) how good their songs sounded (there’s often a pretty low strike rate searching for pop-punk in particular) b) they were based in London and c) still an active band. Their album, ‘Never Better’, stayed on my wishlist for about a year before I finally got round to buying it on a recent Bandcamp Friday splurge, and I’m very glad I got round to splurging. 

- I tend to find it challenging to write anything coherent and concise when it comes to reflecting on albums, that’s why this thing is about music videos, so I won’t digress into a full-blown, wafflely review of Never Better, however, I will say that I was pleasantly surprised by the quality of the songwriting throughout. There’s no slack across the record with each song as powerful as a standalone and different enough presentation of their melancholic, gruff-lite, melodic punk sound without ever sounding overly repetitive, samey or too long. And despite being an album chock full of good tunes, Yuzi still manages to stand a head taller than the rest (although I’d argue Dirt Champ ‘16, is only a shade less good).

- What I think I like about Yuzi is that it seems like a perfect 2.32 minute distillation of the album and, in general, the band’s ‘Regretcore’ (their terminology) sound. The chorus although not classically anthemic in structure runs thick with the regret-punk(?) passion. It’s real ‘arms outstretched, eyes shut and head to sky / pub ceiling’ singalong stuff. 

- The video feels very slick, like they’ve got someone in who knows a bit or two about lens’, colour grading and narrative structure; the latter part being particularly important given they’ve done a good job of essentially filming a short film about a father re-tracing his sons last, seemingly very depressed, last steps in just over 2 and half minutes (whilst interspersed with the shots of the band).

- Whilst superficially I feel like the video is well a constructed short, cinematic story, I’m not sure I love the association of the pain of a break-up / end of a relationship with suicide, which is where I think the video takes the lyrical illusion to. I’m not so priggish as to say we shouldn’t talk or show suicide for fear that it could encourage it in others, but I think the conceit of the pain of a break up feeling so painful as to warrant the ending one’s life is somewhat immature and outdated. This is the sort of narrative content that mainstream emo bands were pumping out in the 2000′s which even then felt a bit hyperbolic and hokey. But now in a time of greater mental health awareness and advocacy it feels almost a bit irresponsible to be playing back these same simplistic narratives around depression and suicide, especially for younger people.

-  Maybe this is me speaking from the vantage point of near middle age and a perhaps a point of greater emotionally stable and maturity, picking holes in an otherwise great song and video. I’m just a bit more sensitive to this stuff in my old age. Listen to Burnt Tapes and talk to your friends (or me) if you’re having a hard time. You are not alone.