Posted on: September 13, 2009 Posted by: anfnewsacct Comments: 0

Electric Frankenstein has been around since 1991, and this album (Burn Bright, Burn Fast) really is an intense assault on the average listener’s senses that really showcases a band that is completely comfortable with their sound. Loud guitars mix with rough-hewn vocals (by Steve) to create an always raucous type of rock-driven punk. The metal-influenced guitar lines that are so commonplace on “Burn Bright, Burn Fast” really wear down the ears by “Danger Zone”, the third track on the disc, and the slower tempo of “Gone To The Other Room” is key in allowing the now-sore appendages time to heal.

Moving away from the metal that had fueled their last few tracks, the southern rock (Molly Hatchet, Lynyrd Skynyrd) that is the impetus for the track is more than enough of a foundation for EF to succeed with. The interesting hook about this album is the fact that the bulk of these songs are old, being culled from the last 39 releases of the band. These tracks apparently were kept in a nice cool place from 1991 on, and finally given one more once-over before being ready for the big time. The cohesion that this album enjoys issues from the fact that the band re-recorded the songs and allowed the linkages to be made to not allow for any disjointed sounds to issue forth. The guitar work done on “Burn Bright, Burn Fast” is not the virtuosic riffage that makes CDs like those released by Welt or Bad Religion; rather, this band plays to a completely different section of society. This is punk for the working class person instead of the college-educated liberal, and sometimes this is really refreshing considering the heavy, oft-preachy alternative.

What really marks the commanding heights of this album is the much more melodic-based “New World Whore”, which looks toward the arena rock phenomenon for the Def Leppard-like crooning of Steve during the track. A step up from the way they are constructed during the rest of the disc, the guitar riffs on “New World Whore” seem to also point listeners towards the oft-maligned power metal movement. Electric Frankenstein bash out track after track on “Burn Bright, Burn Fast” and age has only made the band better. This is vitriolic, angry punk rock that shows a disaffection with society and self that marked the earliest Ramones albums and more often than not really exemplifies the term “punk”.

Top Tracks: New World Whore, Danger Zone

Rating: 6.1/10

Electric Frankenstein –Burn Bright, Burn Fast / 2005 TKO / 14 Tracks / http://www.electricfrankenstein.com / http://www.tkorecords.com / Reviewed 23 May 2005

Leave a Comment