...Burn, Piano Island, Burn was the album that transformed The Blood Brothers from an obscure spazz-rock band to spazz-rock band that people had actually heard of, which is quite the leap in the spazz-rock world I suppose. At least that's how it was for me; before this record came out I'd never heard of the band, and I suspect a lot of people who eventually bought it hadn't either.
Some time around the release the band played a Radio One session for Mary Ann Hobbs' Rock Show which was the first time their name and their music met my ears. The Rock Show was on between midnight and 2am on a Tuesday night and I'd stay up late recording it onto MiniDisc, noting which songs I liked and later editing the MiniDisc. Only ten years have passed since then, but it already seems a thoroughly ridiculous procedure - the internet wasn't yet the thing it is today, so I assure the younger readers that this was necessary to get new music (the even-younger readers, if any, may want to Google what MiniDiscs are). Anyway, their session was great and included a cover of Queen and Bowie's Under Pressure, which really sealed the deal for me (their version was a high-speed noise that broke briefly for the famous bass line, only to return to high-speed noise again. It was great). My MiniDisc player has long given up the ghost, but luckily I also at some point recorded the Blood Brothers session onto cassette which I re-discovered after playing all my old tapes in my car. The session is still cracking.
Sometime after this, I was in London with Hugh to see Killswitch Engage and Poison the Well in the LA2 (or the Mean Fiddler, or whatever it was called at that point. R.I.P. either way). I wasn't much into Killswitch but a fan of Poison the Well, and we decided to do a little record shopping beforehand and stash our records in the cloakroom. I picked up this LP in Selectadisc (now Sister Ray) and a couple of other records in one of the second hand shops on Berwick Street. Looking at the information on Deadformat I must be one of the few people in the world who doesn't have this record on an exciting colour vinyl (note that this release isn't listed - the black US first pressing has a different colour label). Still, the gatefold is nice, and there's a booklet of lyrics in case you want to scream along with the band.
It's a good album, but I also enjoy the two that followed it. I never picked up the first two albums, but do have a copy of the Rumors Laid Waste 10" and Jungle Rules DVD. Across all of those, I think Piano Island has my favourite songs on, and the highlight for me is the dark and quite messed-up The Salesman, Denver Max. I remember looking through the lyrics on the train home after the gig and wondering what I'd got myself into. Guitarmy is a brilliant opener and Fucking's Greatest Hits, Every Breath is a Bomb and The Shame are all excellent too.
I never got to see The Blood Brothers live (they played Reading Festival the one year I missed in 11 years) and I'm still a bit gutted about that. The footage on the DVD suggests I missed quite the show.
Format: 12", gatefold sleeve, 7"x5.5" booklet
Tracks: 12
Cost: £12 new
Bought: Selectadisc, London
When: 09/04/03
Colour: Black
Etching: none
mp3s: no
