State Is Burning

Pop punk. If you’re one of the younger members of KZSU who grew up listening to Greenday, American Idiot, etc., this album might trip some nostalgia wires. It’s more on the punk end of the spectrum, not the pop end--nevertheless, it doesn’t have the arty aspirations of White Lung or Perfect Pussy, so pop punk it is. This is just guitars, tight drumming, and a bratty male voice. Not much lyrical inspiration, but that’s not really a problem. Formed in Israel in 1994 (right around the same time as Greenday), this apparently qualifies as Middle Eastern punk, which is super cool, although if you told me that it was made in Cleveland or Phoenix, I totally would’ve believed it, so don’t try to put this in the world music section.

Recommended: 15, 2, 9, 8, 14. Watch for the FCCs that I’ve labeled.

1) “Land of Idiocracy” (0:59) (FCC): Says “fuck” like thirty times. Also idiocracy is from a while ago, it’s old news.
2) “Stopwatch” (1:22): Great pop punk drumming.
3) “Borrowed Time” (2:26) (FCC): Almost more of a ballad. FCC: fuck.
4) “How to Dismantle an Atom Bomb” (2:18) (FCC): More dissonant opening. Cool sparse bridge. FCC: fuck.
5) “Creation” (2:18): A song about the singer’s intense punk rock life.
6) “Genetic” (1:22): Pushing hard. “It’s genetic.” Quick vocal harmonies are a nice touch.
7) “State Is Burning” (2:23) (FCC): Calling on the nihilists and anarchists of the world to tear it apart. Lol. Gets almost melancholy halfway through. FCC: shit.
8) “Novice” (2:09): Nice guitar hook at the start. He’s a novice at love.
9) “Lonely Man” (1:34): Great off-balance drumming.
10) “Night Shift” (1:50) (FCC): A bit more intimate. “Please come home because I miss you.” FCC: fuck.
11) “45 Seconds” (0:46): “Ignorance is in the way of love.” A bit screamier.
12) “Without a Choice” (0:40): “Without a CHOICE.” Kind of a chorus without a song. Cool though.
13) “Detune” (1:52): Total curveball--kind of a soft rock track for the first minute. Then a punk explosion. They actually do soft rock pretty well. Disjointed track though.
14) “We Don’t Want the Airwaves” (2:28): More structured. Feels more like a single. Vocal harmonies, more reflective, a bit slower.
15) “Closer to the Edge” (3:37): Almost inspirational. We can be whatever we want to be, etc., if we could just get rid of the demons inside us. Odd but charming little synth interlude. Builds to a surprisingly epic conclusion.

-- Mr Tumnus