A hard rock/lo-fi curtain of sound that‰’s sloppy in all the right ways

The only way to truly describe the sound of The Book-Burners is “slapped together,‰” not in the sense that it‰’s shoddily assembled, but in the sense that their influences are fairly varied and all show themselves in unique ways throughout the record. The Book Burners‰’s vocalists sound like two different ones, one a shouty/growly dude who I imagine performs in flannel and a trucker hat while clutching a bottle of booze, the other a Michael Stipe-imitator who‰’s less a sensitive poet and more of a guy who gets really dark and vindictive when he‰’s drunk. The group runs the gamut instrumentally; emulating classic lo-fi acts like Dinosaur Jr. with their soft/loud fuzz/crunch dynamic all while featuring a pretty heavy rhythm section, The Book-Burners create an interestingly unhinged sound. The album also features some quite-ish moments, like highlight “Complications,‰” a ballad that could‰’ve been recorded by R.E.M. 20 years ago. Overall, People‰’s Songs is a fairly entertaining collage of sound, if the definition of “collage‰” was changed to “a rickety shack drippy with wet paint with some pretty flowers in front‰” (this is a compliment).

RIYL: Dinosaur Jr., Era Vulgaris-era Queens of the Stone Age, R.E.M.
Recommended: 1, 2, 4, 5, 9