{"id":76062,"date":"2019-02-15T14:00:22","date_gmt":"2019-02-15T14:00:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/?p=76062"},"modified":"2023-04-07T14:25:21","modified_gmt":"2023-04-07T13:25:21","slug":"review-burnt-tapes-never-better","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/review-burnt-tapes-never-better\/","title":{"rendered":"Review: Burnt Tapes &#8211; Never Better"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-76063\" src=\"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/D8510707-37BB-44BE-8DAC-2EBA76F8B094-300x300.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"300\" title=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/D8510707-37BB-44BE-8DAC-2EBA76F8B094-300x300.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/D8510707-37BB-44BE-8DAC-2EBA76F8B094-100x100.jpeg 100w, https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/D8510707-37BB-44BE-8DAC-2EBA76F8B094-600x600.jpeg 600w, https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/D8510707-37BB-44BE-8DAC-2EBA76F8B094-150x150.jpeg 150w, https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/D8510707-37BB-44BE-8DAC-2EBA76F8B094-465x465.jpeg 465w, https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/D8510707-37BB-44BE-8DAC-2EBA76F8B094-500x500.jpeg 500w, https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/D8510707-37BB-44BE-8DAC-2EBA76F8B094.jpeg 761w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/>There\u2019s not exactly a shortage of bands who sound like <b>Burnt Tapes<\/b> out there. Gruff, melodic punk in this vein has been a mainstay of the scene for a few years now, elevated and perfected by bands like Hot Water Music and The Menzingers. And yet, new bands continue to crop up, to the point where it\u2019s worth wondering if we actually need any more around.<\/p>\n<p>And listening to <i>\u2019Never Better\u2019<\/i>, the general answer seems to be while they might not be\u00a0needed, they\u2019re sure great to have around. As much as they wear their influences on their sleeve,\u00a0<b>Burnt Tapes<\/b>\u2019 are doing a pretty great job at emotionally-driven alt-punk that can\u2019t be ignored. There\u2019s the same chunkiness and windswept quality to the guitars that give tracks such as\u00a0<i>\u2019Drift Champ \u201816\u2019<\/i> and <i>\u2019Dirt Roads\u2019<\/i> their sense of scope, as well as an unmistakable earthiness, particularly in the vocals, that holds so much presence.<\/p>\n<p><iframe title=\"Burnt Tapes - &quot;Yuzi&quot; [Official Music Video]\" width=\"800\" height=\"450\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/eoVbPTfUnl0?feature=oembed&#038;enablejsapi=1&#038;origin=https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Again, a lot of these exact qualities can be attributed to countless other bands (perhaps too much in the case of tracks like\u00a0<i>\u2019Maybe I\u2019m A Method Actor\u2019<\/i>), but it\u2019s not like <b>Burnt Tapes<\/b> don\u2019t have the same ear for real anthemia, and to see it cultivated in such a strong way here is always good. As far as auditions to break into the big leagues go, this does a lot right, immediately gravitating towards ironclad melodies on tracks such as\u00a0<i>\u2018Yuzi\u2019 <\/i>and <i>\u2018Robert Cop\u2019<\/i>\u00a0that really hit the right spot.<\/p>\n<p>That\u2019s why it\u2019s tempting to be kinder to <b>Burnt Tapes<\/b> than is perhaps wise. After all, there\u2019s a lot of growth to be done to really show what they\u2019re capable on beyond emulating such recognisable sounds. But those sounds are good on their own, and for more of the same of a genre that still has a lot of mileage, <i>\u2019Never Better\u2019<\/i> is more than worthy of a look.<\/p>\n<p>3.5\/5<\/p>\n<p><i>&#8216;Never Better&#8217;<\/i> by <b>Burnt Tapes<\/b> is released on 22nd February on <b>Lockjaw Records<\/b>.<\/p>\n<p><b>Burnt Tapes<\/b> links: <a href=\"https:\/\/facebook.com\/burnt.tapes\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Facebook<\/a> | <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/burnt_tapes\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Twitter<\/a> | <a href=\"https:\/\/burnttapes.bandcamp.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Bandcamp<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Words by Luke Nuttall (<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/nuttall_luke\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">@nuttall_luke<\/a>)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;Burnt Tapes\u2019 are doing a pretty great job at emotionally-driven alt-punk that can\u2019t be ignored&#8221;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":76063,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[5879,16583,1364,15029,16584],"class_list":["post-76062","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-album-reviews","tag-album-reviews","tag-burnt-tapes","tag-lockjaw-records","tag-luke-nuttall","tag-never-better"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.7 - 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