Burn, Piano Island, Burn

Album Review

Higher-pitched and noisier than an army of little dogs, the quintet of youngsters known as the Blood Brothers spew out a relentless wad of spit on Burn Piano Island, Burn, a ferocious album that singes the ears. Their passionate, insane, ranting hardcore is surely not for everyone. It's a truly extreme album at a time when the word "extreme" is used to sell snowboards and SUVs. The Blood Brothers features two singers trading off shrieking into the mic and surprisingly they're shrieking some really fancy lyrics, which is probably the most interesting aspect of the band. On the title song they yelp, "Charred toucans weaving their black sky quilt?/Burn piano island burn!/The seashells scream out celestial code/Melting on the shore inside a flame snow globe." All the lyrics are very much in this surreal poetry vein. An unusual band indeed. They occasionally, though not very often, slow up the torrent on songs like "Six Nightmares at the Pinball Masquerade" and "The Salesman, Denver Max," using, gasp!, acoustic guitars, pianos, and a xylophone. Kids looking to anger their parents to the point of losing it should pick up this CD, turn up the stereo, and lock the door.