vintage

If there’s a band you should know about, it is Peterborough’s The Burning Hell. Trust me on this one.

Primarily the brainchild of ukulele master Mathias Kom, the Burning Hell is an outfit that combines folk, rock, cabaret and the now-familiar giant indie-band lineup (my friend described them as “Folkin’ Social Scene”, and a more apt nickname I may never hear). We played with them in Oshawa this past week and I have no idea what I was expecting, but it was certainly not this.

To give you a brief idea, their set that night featured ponderous, lilting numbers (“Everything You Believe Is A Lie”), hilarious uptempo multi-part stories about zombies (“Grave Situation” parts 1 and 2), beautiful folky songs (“Municipal Monarchs”) and yes, a cover of Men Without Hats’ ubiquitous “Pop Goes the World”. You haven’t lived until you’ve seen that one covered by a ten-piece band.

The best part about the Burning Hell is that they don’t take themselves too seriously, which is why they can get away with bouncy covers back-to-back with dirgey folk, sung by Kom in his rich baritone, backed by ukulele. They do whatever they want, however they want, and it’s that element of whimsy that makes them such a delightful band to witness – not to mention their innate ability to make you want to dance to songs about zombies and cheating husbands. And their informal CD release party, held in a photographer friend’s loft near Queen St East in Toronto, was just as much of a party (one that was broken up by the police, in fact, which left a lot of people rather bewildered; but what better way to endorse a band’s awesome factor than the hint that it takes a police force to contain them?).

Riding on their recent release, 2008 is shaping up to be an excellent year for the Burning Hell and friends; gear up to hear more about them, as they don’t look like they’ll be slowing down anytime soon.

Take a listen to Grave Situation Pt. 1 or check out their myspace.