BURNT BOOKS crafts a searing, incendiary type of hardcore/post-punk built on angular riffs awash in grimy sludge. Hailing from nearby Columbia, SC, the band recorded their 2013 self-titled debut LP with Phillip Cope of Kylesa/Retro Futurist Records at Columbia’s Jam Room Studio. Soon after, they signed with Retro Futurist and hit the studio once again with Cope to cut their follow-up, due March 2015.
Compared to the first go-round, Burnt Books’ Joey Parker attests that the band was “definitely more comfortable with Phil and ourselves on this one.”
“This record feels more organic and raw to me,” he says. “We tracked the record with all of us in the room together. It has more of a live feel. Guitars were overdubbed, but the core sound is us live in the studio.”
Burnt Books has raised the bar for their own intense arrangements, delivery, and songwriting on this release, too. “Lyrically, [vocalist] Zoë and I had a lot to say,” says Parker. “And we did.”
“We were such a young band on the first record,” he continues. “You can tell we’ve matured as a band...musically and emotionally.”
Parker attests that the Retro Futurist collaboration has been a positive and familial experience. “They are looking out for us, and we look out for them,” he explains.
Labelmates Crazy Bag Lady join the Jinx bill.
