Earth Dies Burning
Songs From The Valley Of The Bored Teenager (1981-1984)
Captured Tracks Records [2013]
Fire Note Says: Bizarro synth punk from San Fernando bored teenagers.
Album Review: When Earth Dies Burning was formed in 1981, the ages of the band members ranged from 10-14. That’s right, from 10-14. You know what I was doing when I was 14? I was wearing out a vhs copy of Purple Rain watching Apollonia cleanse herself in the waters of Lake Minnetonka, only that ain’t Lake Minnetonka, and the height of cool was watching Prince burn out on his Honda Gold Wing and throw gravel at her. But the guys in Earth Dies Burning were far hipper than I and somehow managed to hook up a bunch of cheap Casios, a beat up drum kit, a bassoon and a mic, and blast out some teenage punk.
Clocking in at 23 songs in 37 minutes, Songs from the Valley of the Bored Teenager (1981-1984), documents the entire output of the San Fernando Valley Band. Song topics range from Fishsticks to Pork Yogurt, and talk about getting laid. The band also pulls out some choice covers in the classic Count Five track “Psychotic Reaction”, PiL’s “The Flowers of Romance”, a disco cover of Velvet Underground’s Heroin and “The Safety Dance”. Pretty heady stuff for a bunch of kids, wouldn’t you agree?
Sonically, the band sounds like prepubescent Screamers, or a less evil Suicide. As the band started to mature, the quality of the songs improves, in both performance and style. The fidelity goes back and forth between studio tracks, live versions, and home rehearsal tape demos, but strangely it holds together well. This is one of those releases that you will either love or hate on first listen. I was intrigued at first, but thought it merely a novelty, until I began to really dig in, and discover that they were indeed on to something good, but it was probably just a little bit outside of their grasp. Fans of Half Japanese should definitely get in on this record, it’s sort of like Half Japanese meets Sparks. If that sounds the least bit intriguing, check this out.
Key Tracks: “Psychotic Reaction”, “Bored Teenager”, “Pork Yogurt”
Artists With Similar Fire: Half Japanese / Sparks / Suicide
Earth Dies Burning Website
Captured Tracks Records
-Reviewed by Kevin Poindexter
Born and raised in Dayton, Ohio, I am extremely proud of the area I grew up in and the influence it has had on the world at large, from the Wright Brothers to Robert Pollard, the area has been a center of innovation both technologically and artistically. During my college years at the University of Dayton, I found myself becoming more and more immersed in the local music scene, a period of time in the early to mid 90's that coincided with the rise of bands like Guided by Voices, Brainiac, and The Breeders, who added to the rich musical legacy of the area. Dayton is also the hometown of many giants of funk in the 70's and is also the birthplace of Jazz greats Billy Strayhorn, John Scofield and Bud Shank. I wrote extensively for The Fire Note, a great online magazine focused on indie rock, in the 2010's while simultaneously being a partner in Rockathon Records, before retiring from both in 2018. In 2024, my thoughts turned back to helping at Rockathon and more importantly to pick back up on my writing, and more specifically to write about my love of jazz. I'm always listening, always searching for something new, something great. It's been a lifelong journey, and I still feel like there is so much out there to hear.
- Kevin Poindexterhttps://thefirenote.com/author/kpoindexter/
- Kevin Poindexterhttps://thefirenote.com/author/kpoindexter/
- Kevin Poindexterhttps://thefirenote.com/author/kpoindexter/
- Kevin Poindexterhttps://thefirenote.com/author/kpoindexter/
