I’ve only seen Bur play once, for about 25 minutes, during an early night set at Montrose Saloon last spring and I still think about that show on a regular basis. It’s a rare occurrence to see a band come out of the gates at a mighty pace, twirling lead guitar lines around each other in a thick met of noise amid the thunderous crash of constant drum fills that still managed to keep perfect time. Many groups can make a strong first impression, but usually a band coming out that hard at the very start runs out of gas by their second song. But not Bur!
So that sent me off in a journey through the band’s entire back catalog. As far as I can tell, Bur has been active since at least 2016 but seem to have picked up their release game since 2022, releasing a series of EPs and one-offs, leading up to this month’s release of their latest LP Snowy Chloe.
Snowy Chloe uses the studio to focus the band’s attack and give the group’s vocal harmonies a chance to sign. What would usually melt into the maelstrom of their live set is plucked to the forefront, showing Bur certainly grasps the finer songwriting and arranging points that might get taken for granted during a live set. The guitar fury is still in there, but they’ve wrangled that away from their usual wall of distortion for a cleaner listen that still maintains their energy. And like all their releases, it’s a zippy play that’s over way too fast…leading to many repeat plays.
The band is celebrating the release of Snowy Chloe with a show this Sunday, January 26, at Subterranean, as they take part in the “Halloween in January” bill that night. Tickets are available here.
