burn tempe to the ground story
recorded in the porn capital of the world (van nuys, california) in the
studio run by the guy from saga and engineered and recorded by the master
of rock ryan greene (nofx, fat wreck), this album was destined for greatness.
i think it was lot slicker and more coherent as a whole than power tools, but
at the same time it failed to capture some of the energy of our earlier stuff.
we had written some of these songs with our old drummer billy, and with the addition
of miguel barron at the start of 1995 we were in the studio by july. miguel
added some great pop hooks to the new songs and did lead vocals on the most
familiar track of the album, 'pop can park'. you know, i like this record.
-scott
burn tempe to the ground reviews wonka vision magazine
Absolutely the most underrated punk band of this era, the Arizona-based Horace Pinker has had a career based on bad luck. Lineup changes,
horrid luck with labels, and just generally never getting the respect they deserve has all been par for the course for these melodic punks.
This album, released in 1996, was their second full-length, but the first where they really solidified their sound. Although a slight
disappointment after the jaw-dropping, Jawbreaker-worthy two songs on the split 7” with Face to Face (honestly, two of the best punk songs ever),
Burn Tempe to the Ground was filled with gems like the raging “Youth Anthem” and “Song about Selling Out,” and the more melodic and catchy “Pop Can Park.”
But as great as this is, the band recently released Texas One Ten, the best thing they’ve done to date—buy it immediately, pick up their back catalogue,
and see what you’ve been missing.
[Onefoot] Greg Pratt
ewirezine.com
this album is by no means new. it was recorded july 1995 and released later that year, but it's taken this long before
it's fallen into my hands. although horace pinker may not be one of the most original pop-punk bands around, they do have
a distinct and easily-recognizable sound — mainly due to scott eastman's vocals. and though they go as far as to say
(in the liner notes) that they can't even play their instruments, they obviously fake it well enough to produce a follow-up
to 1994's power tools. burn tempe to the ground is a much more consistent album. while the songs their first record ranged
from good to mediocre (and never quite equaling the great opening track, "first everything"), burn never loses its pace and
power. in fact, it builds throughout the twelve songs and peaks with the final cut, "song about selling out".
horace pinker is a band who works with what they have, and in this case are able to come up with quite a good album.
recorded july 1995 in los angeles, ca
