Burden Brothers

Mercy (Kirtland)
By Scott Hefflon

The Toadies were a great band, had a couple CDs on Interscope, had a few hits ya still hear on radio that plays ’90s rock, so – aside from label moolay – it’s a real mystery why Burden Brothers aren’t a well-known and respected rock band, even though they’ve toured with Velvet Revolver and the like. Vaden Todd Lewis sang for the Toadies, and he sings his big heart out here. Former skin-beater for the good Revered Horton Heat, Taz, pounds here, albeit less psychotically. There are a handful of tunes here that Dennis Leary oughtta eye for his next series. He’s used a Spacehog tune and a Von Blondie tune, and if those names, nor “oh, that’s who does that cool song?” click for you, really, seriously, try to pay a little more attention, huh? Mercy is a bit more subdued in places than I’m used to from these Dallas dirt-kickers, but perhaps ya can’t stay cranked to the gills, snarling and sneering, howling wildly at the moon forever, ya know? And shit, nothing wrong with a whiskey-soaked murder ballad here and there. Not like these fellas are emo whiners, eyeliner or not. Burden Brothers and The Hellacopters are fine examples of timeless rock being written at the time of this writing, and you should thank the stars above that this is so.
(www.kirtlandrecords.com)