Who’s your daddy?
Black comedy is an acquired taste, and it’s probably fair to say that Mathais Kom’s tongue is acutely tuned to the flavour.
I might be getting ahead of myself. Hopefully you were paying attention the last time we talked about the Burning Hell. That’s Kom’s band. He’s a supposedly virtuosic ukulele player from Ontario (who knows how that works) that has the good sense to minimize the uke in the songs he and his band perform. He also boasts a hauntingly-deep baritone voice, frequently Leonard Cohen-like in his delivery. You might also remember them from Tanis’ entry a couple weeks ago or so.
When last we heard from the Burning Hell they’d released their debut CD for Ontario’s Weewerk Records, Happy Birthday. Its a glorious juxtaposition of dark-sounding, baroque indie/folk/rock music and Kom’s twisted tales of aged cover bands, zombie brides, possession-less minimalists, and the end of the world. But 2009 is looking to be the band’s year, as a year of constant touring has not only produced a brand new album (Baby, pictured above) but also a re-issue of the group’s first independent release, Tick Tock.
First: Baby is flawlessly produced despite being recorded in sessions all over Canada and Europe, a well-mixed record that showcases the wide range of instruments played by a roster of roughly two dozen musicians. Kom has apparently called in every favour owed to him in creating the music here and the attention to detail betrays the seemingly dashed-off recording process.
The instrumentation has a very “and the kitchen-sink” mentality much like its predecessor, but the songs also boast a solid increase in energy and tempo across the board. That’s undoubtedly a result of the rigorous touring schedule, which seems to have brought the energy and sense of fun up a considerable amount.
But as far as fun goes the Burning Hell begins and ends with Kom’s lyrics, a trip through a psyche that embraces the darkly comic side to international diplomacy, the horrors of being born, and the awesome potential in (once again) the end of the world. The sequel to a cut from their first CD (”The Things That People Make, Part 2)” bears numerous great examples in an analysis of the dichotomy of an uneven relationship: “You be the dictator, I’ll be the oppressed…You be the last giant panda bear, I’ll be the last giant panda bear’s sperm/You be the dead baby bird, I’ll be the regurgitated worm.” Later on the excellent “The Berlin Conference” (which actually is about a conference in the 1880’s that was responsible for regulating the colonization of Africa and trade within its borders) Kom unleaches the random, genius line, “You say tomato, I say dividends.” Its that knack for flipping the listener’s expectations while keeping what could be a throw-away line inside the context of the larger lyrical picture that really sets off Kom’s writing. Near the end of the record we get “When The World Ends,” a roller-coaster ride of possibilities pertaining to the ultimate undiscovered country: how the world will end and whether or not we’ll still be able to party when it all comes down.
There’s a sense of humour at play, obviously, but these aren’t throw-away words. This isn’t the Lonely Island or Tenacious D. There is substance, meaning, and insight to the lyrics that reveal themselves slowly upon repeat listens. This is music worth coming back to.
Given the progression of the last two albums Kom’s debut CD Tick Tock stands somewhere between curiosity, footnote, and blueprint. Perhaps unexpectedly, much of the album’s first half is built primarily around electric rock guitar, an unusual fit for songs written by a professional ukeleleist. There’s a definite sense of what’s to come, but in an unmistakably embryonic stage: “Municipal Monarchs” would be re-recorded for Happy Birthday, “I Love The Things That People Make” serves as the basis for a sequel on the new record, and “All The Stars and Parking Lots” sets the tone for the slower jams on future records.
Listening to the two in close quarters illustrates how far one songwriter can come in a short time when they put themselves into their craft whole-heartedly and without constraints on creativity. Kom’s playful nature and unique songwriting voice will undoubtedly carry them as far as they want to go, at least in the indie pop world.
Burning Hell - Everybody Needs A Body To Be Somebody [5:17m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download Burning Hell - Grave Situation Pt. 3: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download Burning Hell - I Love The Things That People Make [3:24m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download Burning Hell - All The Stars and Parking Lots [5:04m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | DownloadYou can pick up all three Burning Hell CDs from Weewerk Records’ website. If you want to buy more than one at a time just send them an email with payment information and hook it up. Check them out on Zunior as well.
