Following on from a succession of storming gigs North London/South Kent Power Pop trio Burgundy have channelled some of their energy into the studio and come away with a 3 track EP. Burgundy have been together a little under 6 months but have already carved themselves a place within the local music scene and a reputation as a force to be reckoned with.

While vocalist/guitarist Gary Ptaszek possesses a literal Post Hardcore influence from the short lived Contain&Destroy he also has a portfolio of self penned material that up until that point had only seen the light of day in his solo acoustic sets. Yet once joining with Gary and Dan Tinsley, the former rhythm section of The Frequency, Ptaszek’s work finally reached its optimum potential: the result was Burgundy.

Stylistically they draw from a broad range of contemporary influences, most notably Incubus, Queens of the Stone Age, Reuben and Biffy Clyro. As a consequence the songs tend to be textured and full of rich detail whilst exhibiting a good economy of sonic dynamics, as opposed to a constant tour de force or shoe gazing monotony. Instead the songs switch on and off, from clean to distorted, from melodic to pure energy, never staying at one level and never becoming stale or formulaic.

“Burgundy”, the track from which the band take their name, could be seen as a manifesto for their sound: starting off gently with a brooding melody before jumping straight into an explosion of crashing power chords ,falling back into soft melodies and suddenly leaping up again. Inevitably the song rises up again to a wall of distortion while Ptaszek’s vocals oscillate from gentle serenades to guttural roars. The rhythm is like a metronome of purposely missed beats with the occasional guitar over dub that thickens up the sound, finally overflowing into a cascade of screams and energetically slashed notes before fading into the same melody it started with. The transition to the heavy sound is so gradual and well put together that you do not even realise it takes place are despite the contrast between the Hardcoresque choruses and the fragile, gentle beginning.

“Previously Unknown” has an evident Biffy Clyro influence, featuring almost Jazz riffs that climb up and fall down the fret boards to stop-start beats, while the powerful vocals lift into euphoric choruses, almost reminiscent of The Cure at times, with the twinkling melodies and oscillating crooned vocals. The drums on point as the track finally lifts into another climatic barrage of sound, once again dropping away into sparse and haunting riffs, fading to black.

“Carnival Festival” has a decidedly more upbeat feel from its outset, bright chords strummed out when the drums and bass join, shifting between sparse verses and crashing epic choruses. It is a lament over friendships that were lost and yet rekindled; offering solace in the darkest hours, quit simply a celebration of good friends in bad times, set to a rolling wave of sound. Every so often the guitar drops off leaving the rhythm section to carry the song, showing the underlying strength of the trio, the solidarity of their musical foundation: tempo changes, soaring vocals, shimmering guitar tones, growling bass and a climatic end.

Burgundy’s EP is a powerful first effort and certainly an indication of greater things to come from a group that have achieved so much thus far, despite how brief their time together has been.

By Dann Gaymer

Label: Unsigned

www.myspace.com/burgundythetriangle