The Violet Burning

Domo Records

Reviewed by:Kevin, Derek and Nicole

Derek: TheViolets@aol.com
Kevin: One strike against them
Kevin: So far this is the second best thing we�ve heard tonight
Kevin: I liked this song (Crush) a lot more before the guitar solo started.
[kevin walks out and returns with a martini]
Derek: I haven�t really been paying attention
Kevin: These guys will probably make it in alternative commercial radio markets. This came out a while ago, I�m suprised I haven�t heard it on KNDD already.
[Blind comes on, Derek reads from the information that came with the disc]
Derek: "this song will make the record complete"
Derek: I�d have to say that this record is better than this PR release.
Kevin: I�m trying to think who they remind me of.
Derek: Well they mention the Beatles, Echo and the Bunnymen, The Cure, Joy Division.
Kevin: this has as much Joy Division influences as something that doesn�t have any Joy Division influences. At least they�ve heard of Joy Division, but I know Joy Divison senator, and they guys are no Joy Division.
[Kevin sips his martini]
Kevin: Too much vermouth
Derek [reading from press kit]: "Three shows a day for hard working alterna-rockers." I think that they really need a new PR firm.
Kevin: Don�t say that, it�s the PR firm that sent us this disc.
Derek: I don�t know if most press releases are this clich�-ridden
Kevin: I don�t get too many press releases from management and PR companies, so I would say no. Even Columbia�s press releases aren�t nearly this bad.
Derek: This is ok, but I wouldn�t really recommend anyone buy it.
Kevin: I think there are some people who would probably really dig these guys. I�m trying to think of a good comparison to make so people would know better what they sound like. How about a cross between The Smiths...
Nicole: don�t.
Kevin: I don�t mean they sound like the Smiths. I mean, the Smiths seem more like an influence than Joy Division, especially when at the beginning of "The Sun and The Sky" their guitarist blatently rips off the intro to "How Soon Is Now."
Derek: That�s what I was thinking.
Kevin: Now they�re blatently ripping off The Beatles "Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds."
Derek: Michael admits it�s not his favorite song, but the fans love it.
Kevin: I bet the copyright lawyers will love it too.
Derek: I don�t think we�re getting any advertising from this company.
Derek: They got reviewed in the LA Times, 3 stars
Kevin: They�re not awful, or even bad. They just don�t really stand out.
[Kevin Laughs]
Kevin: The LA times says these guys have a talent for creating "experimental soundscapes"
Derek: It�s not just "experimental soundscapes", it�s "smouldering urgent and experimental soundscapes."
Kevin: Boy did they make a mistake sending that review to us. I know experimental soundscapes senator and this is NOT experimental soundscapes.
[Nicole rolls her eyes at Kevin]
Kevin: Let�s listen to the beginning of this track (Underwater) again, it sounds like the Velvet Underground to me.
[Skips back to the beginning of the song]
Kevin: I thought it sounds like the Velvet Underground.
Derek: It does vaguely.
Kevin: When he starts singing in this song he sounds like a young Lou Reed.
[Kevin reads through the other reviews]
Kevin: All their other reviews are raving about how sad and melancholic these guys are. [laughs] I guess for mainstream rock this is as close as it gets to gothic without alienating young listeners. I guess I can sort of hear the Echo And The Bunnymen influences, but it�s subtle.
Derek: The press release says it "smacks of gothic rock."
Kevin: I think that this disc might have gotten a much better review if it came without a press kit. This is so far from gothic, so so far. Soundgarden is more gothic than this.
Derek: I don�t know, this is more gothic than soundgarden.
Kevin: Using Tremolo on your guitar does not make you gothic.
Derek: Well, it isn�t really the band that is claiming this band is gothic, it�s their PR firm and the other reviewers.
Kevin: I�m sure that these guys would be really nice if you met them on the street, but they don�t sound too depressed to me.
Derek: I don�t think that this firm is going to send out our review in their press kit either.
Kevin: Doesn�t Goldmine kind of sound like a U2 song? I know, "I Still Haven�t Found What I�m Looking For"
Derek: I thought it sounds like "With Or Without You".
Kevin: That�s it! Even the bass line is almost exactly the same.
Kevin: You know, listening to this song, "Waiting" I bet that these guys are a good live band. No, I�m serious. Really. I can sort of see them playing in a small club like Mo�s in Seattle or Caberet Metropol in Chicago and me actually digging them more. I know that sounds weird.
[the last three track pass by without comment from anyone]
Kevin: Final comments? Nicole?
Nicole: It�s a bit too slow for my tastes.
Kevin: Derek?
Derek: huh? I�d say that they would be ok, if I was still into the genre.
Kevin: what genre?
Derek: just all those other bands we�ve already name-dropped.
Kevin: I like the end of the CD better where they get kind of shoe-gazzy.
Nicole: Do you realize that an english proffessor would shoot us right now?
Kevin: Well, we listened to almost the whole discs without skipping around which is real good for us. I think that this band might have some potential if they could move beyond their influences a little bit more and explore more of the territory they embark on towards the end of the disc.

[Unit Circle Music]