22nd July 2009

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band hype I: burn down the mission

I met Austin Schumacher about a year and a half ago while I was living in NYC. He’s a drummer and DJ/mash-up specialist, and part of a few up-and-coming music projects based out of Brooklyn. The following is my favorite.

The band is Burn Down the Mission. Not only does BDTM’s name give tribute to one of the greatest songs of Elton John’s catalogue, “Burn Down the Mission” (from undoubtedly my favorite of his albums, Tumbleweed Connection [The reason it’s my favorite: every song is about the old West. Let’s see a modern singer/songwriter like Jason Mraz pull that off.]), these guys have a powerful and unique pop sound. Similar in sound to Maroon 5, but more experimental both rhythmically and instrumentally.

Burn Down the Mission is Sean Douglas (lead vocals + keyboards), Anthony Stella (guitar), Jesse Macht (guitar, keyboards + vocals), and Austin (drums); their new album Caroline is quite simply a pop album perfectly built for this decade.

Sean Douglas is a bold vocalist who comes right at you with ambitious vocal runs, and backs it up with a lot of talent. The instrumentation is well-orchestrated; it knows when to put straight-up guitar riffs and runs straight in your face, when to go piano-heavy, and when to sneak in catchy electronic sequences. Not to mention the fact that Austin’s percussion doesn’t take a backseat to any of this; the drums are clearly part of the ensemble (especially in the constant rhythmic shifts in their song “Run”, which I’ll talk about and link to below). A lot of bands forget this. Also, the mixing and production on the album are superb: super-clean sound throughout, and the instrumentation is in great balance on every track.

Caroline is full of tracks that show the musical maturity of the group, yet still are the kind of songs that could really build up a wide appeal. To echo the words of former roommate and esteemed Steely Dan fan Kevin Weeks: “I honestly dont know what prevents BDTM from being on the radio.  ‘Run’, ‘Coast to Coast’, ‘Radioactive’ and ‘Cut Me Down’ [from Caroline] are all radio-ready if you ask me.” Thanks for the report KevBo. Great story; compelling and rich.

So: how does one learn more about Burn Down the Mission? Well, one can do several things. Glad you asked, you inquisitive minx.

1. Go to their MySpace page, where you can listen to 5 of their tracks and do other MySpace-ey things: http://www.myspace.com/burndownthemission

2. Add them on Facebook, were you can poke them and do other Facebook-ey things: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Burn-Down-the-Mission/99672249459

3. I found a place to go for a free download of BDTM’s album Caroline at: http://drop.io/burnitdown. Here are a few of my favorite tracks:

-“Run” - Starts off in a quick-rhythm verse with pounding snare: “You can blame it on the wine if you want to…” then jumps to a slowed-down pre-chorus with a funky synched bass-and-guitar line. Then the chorus comes in, featuring a sweet tweety synth line.

-“Cut Me Down” - Opens up with a catchy electronic theme that runs at different points throughout the track; the piano-laden verse features some solid harmony near the end, then the guitars make their entrance for the chorus. Post-chorus the electronic theme comes back in and ties the whole track together.

-“Coast to Coast” - piano-dominated track, supported by a strong bass line and a really catchy chorus, featuring a light & ethereal synth line.

-“Radioactive” is in my opinion the proverbial cream of the proverbial crop; a guitar-heavy verse leads up to the super-smooth guitar riffs throughout the choruses (chorii?), which transitions to a powerful synth line. Just a rock-solid pop song; everything comes together in a way that’s really satisfying for the listener.

-Also take a look at “Hide-A-Key”, “Talk You Down”, and “Spinning.” A lot of solid tracks.

Trust me and download Caroline; it’s a great album with full-play-through-ability.

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Check out their MySpace, add them on Facebook, and get the album before everyone else does. All are free. Give the BDTM dudes some love.

And here they are in action at Fontana’s in the LES, NYC, playing “Coast to Coast.” I’ve been out of New York for more than a year now, but really wish I could see this crew play a show. Pay particular attention to the face-melting axe solo at the end of the song. And, as always, thanks for reading.