Barn Burner / Bangers

Barn Burner : Plus rock que ça, tu meurs!

Reportages et entrevues

Barn Burner : Plus rock que ça, tu meurs!

Kristof G

26 novembre 2009

Barn Burner rock sérieusement, sans pour autant se prendre trop au sérieux (selon leur page Myspace, ils viennent de « Bongtreal ». C’est ce qu’on a conclu en écoutant en boucle Bangers, leur premier album (sorti cet été sur New Romance for Kids Records), dont les remerciements se limitent à un « Thanks Bros, Bands, Babes, Families. ». On apprenait il y a quelques semaines que le band venait de signer sur Metal Blade Records et que leur album sera remixé en vue d’une sortie mondiale en mars. Quelques jours avant un concert au Friendship Cove, BangBang a fait un brin de jasette à Kevin ‘Keaglesmith’ Keegan, le chanteur et guitariste soliste du quatuor.

À Montréal en 2009, il n’y a peut-être plus beaucoup de granges à incendier, ça n’empêche pas les gars de Barn Burner de brûler toutes les planches où ils foutent les pieds. Plusieurs rockeurs présents à leur concert en mai (avec Priestess, au Il Motore) n’eurent ensuite que des bons mots pour cette découverte, qui – à ce qu’on dit – vola la vedette ce soir-là. Puis, le 19 juillet dernier, par un ensoleillé dimanche après-midi d’été sur la terrasse des Foufs, j’ai été instantanément conquis par le rock très hard de mon nouveau groupe heavy préféré. Ni plus, ni moins qu’un coup de foudre.

Il y a quelques semaines, on annonçait que notre quatuor avait signé avec l’illustre étiquette américaine Metal Blade. Étrangement, cette histoire nous rappelle un autre groupe montréalais – Priestess! – qui s’était lui aussi fait recruter il y a quelques années par une institution américaine bien connue, suivant la sortie de leur premier album. Cependant, pour Barn Burner, la nouvelle – une offre par courriel – est un peu tombée du ciel. « C’est un peu arrivé de nulle part; on avait envoyé l’album un peu partout, mais étrangement pas à Metal Blade; on se trouvait juste pas assez metal pour eux », avoue Keegan, en supposant que c’était plutôt l’œuvre d’un bouche à oreille positif à leur égard qui leur aurait filé un coup de main. Heureux hasard.

C’est en fait la continuité d’un long processus pour Bangers: l’album a été enregistré un an avant sa sortie (soit à l’été 2008) et produit par le groupe et Adrian Popovich (Tricky Woo, The Dears, l’ex-DFA1979 Sebastien Grainger…). Avant sa sortie internationale en février 2010, la nouvelle version de Bangers (avec Mikey Heppner de Priestess sur la pièce « Brohemoth») sera remixé — « pour que ça sonne encore plus heavy » assure Keegan — et inclura deux toutes nouvelles pièces. Yes.

On ne serait vraiment pas surpris de voir cet autoproclamé « enfant à trois têtes d’Iron Maiden, Thin Lizzy et Fu Manchu » se mettre à tourner avec des pointures du genre, en suivant les traces de Priestess, avec qui il a plus d’un point commun – dont un son aussi rock classique que métallique. Une chose est certaine, c’est que ce ne serait pas gênant de voir le groupe ouvrir pour des bands comme Clutch, Corrosion of Conformity, Baroness ou Mastodon, ni pour des fêtards comme Municipal Waste ou Mötley Crüe, ou encore des légendes comme Metallica, Ozzy Osbourne ou le ledit groupe de Bruce Dickinson. En attendant, on ira les voir de près dans des petites salles comme le Friendship Cove, pendant qu’il est encore temps. « Soyez prêt à faire le party, le show est commandité par Pabst Blue Ribbon ». Yes we will!

myspace.com/theinfamousbarnburner

Le 12 décembre à 20h au Friendship Cove (215A Murray, près du metro Bonaventure), avec Iron Age, Omegas, Doldrum et Crude Genes.

Montreal Metalheads On Fire

Barn Burner, Bangers CD

By D.W. Lee 18.11.2009

There’s a new band poised to become the Montreal music scene’s next big export. And no, it’s not another ten-piece tight-pants indie collective. The band is Barn Burner, who play a brand of heavy, greasy, riff-rock more at home on the flipside of the Montreal scene – the metal underground. They’ve just been signed to the legendary Metal Blade Records, which will re-release their debut album, Bangers, in early 2010.

Barn Burner is a relatively young band; the members’ average age is 25 and they have only been together for three years. Far from being wet behind the ears, however, Barn Burner knew how to work hard and get the ball rolling right away. “I’ve been a metalhead since I was nine,” guitarist, lead vocalist and main songwriter Kevin Keaglesmith tells me over the phone. “I’ve been playing in bands since I was in high school and touring since I finished high school. [...] Everybody in this band has played in bands before, and that helped a lot.”

Barn Burner started touring with numerous jaunts into Ontario, and soon found themselves on a cross Canada tour with fellow Montreal riff-monsters Priestess – all before they released their first CD.

Bangers was recorded at Mountain City studios in Montreal with producer Adrian Popovich who, in addition to his experience as producer to Sam Roberts and the Dears, played guitar with legendary rockers Tricky Woo. The album stayed in limbo for about a year before being picked up by Montreal label New Romance for Kids this spring, and released this past summer.

Bangers received a lot of good press. The sound of the album is raw without being lo-fi, heavy and full while still maintaining an organic feel. This, combined with the fact that the songs themselves are all balls to the wall riff-rockers, led reviewers to peg the band as old school. They were regularly compared to classic bands, for better or worse.

“We like to see ourselves as part of a new movement of this kind of riff based music,” says Kevin. “Reviews always describe us as this meets that, you know Fu Manchu meets Iron Maiden, and stuff like that. We’re not going to deny those older influences, but we’re also into a lot of modern stuff, more progressive metal and extreme death metal that I think bleeds into our music.”

As heavy as the record is, when it came out Barn Burner didn’t know if people would see them as a metal band, and certainly didn’t expect to be picked up by one the world’s foremost metal labels. “We did a few mailouts when we finished the record,” says Kevin, “and we didn’t even send to Metal Blade, because we figured they were too metal to put out a band like us.”

Barn Burner’s hardworking DIY ethic got them onto Metal Blade’s radar. “Looking back, we can kind of see how it got hooked up. But when the offer first came it seemed to be totally out of the blue.” In March 2010, Metal Blade will be giving a worldwide release to a remixed and remastered version of Bangers, also featuring two new tracks.

In the meantime, the band’s work ethic hasn’t diminished, and they’re not letting this kind of recognition change their modus operandi. “Getting on an awesome label is only half the battle,” Kevin explains. The band is continuing to book their own tours for the time being, and is already nearly finished writing a second album. “We’re still working the same way we did when we started.”

http://roverarts.com

Terrorizer Magazine

Terrorizer Magazine

Barn Burner
“Bangers”
New Romance for Kids
Hailing from “Bongtreal”, Canada, and armed with a fistful of tunes including “Holy Smokes”, “Beer Today Bong Tomorrow” and “Brohemoth’, Barn Burner might be playing in the shallow end but they’re still excellent swimmers. Up tempo stoner rock like a cross between the Atomic Bitchwax, Fu Manchu and the Fucking Champs with the excellent muscicianship compensating for derivative inevitability.

Barn Burner sign to Metal Blade.

It's official, Metal Blade are taking the "Bangers" disc and reissuing it. You can still order the CD/ LP from us for a few months, thanks to everyone that has ordered. LP avail. beyond re-issue.

I'm really happy for Barn Burner, but you have to admit it sucks for us... the record as been a chart topper ! a review hit ! well supported on tour ! and now it's gone... BUT...BUT for the good of the band.

I remember back in May or so when the Barn Burner dudes asked me to release their record they had been shopping it around for a year already before they came to us, we almost immediately pressed it and gave it all we had because I was very impressed by the dudes and their willingness. Here is a quote from me at that first meeting "So we'll do the record push it hard, and in no time Metal Blade will come knocking for your next release"

I wasn't to off, except I never, ever imagined we would lose our record...

Metal Blade Records will be giving their debut album, 'Bangers', its official world wide release in 2010. The album has already received tons of praise from press from Canada to the UK from the album’s original release via New Romance for Kids Records.

“Up tempo stoner rock like a cross between The Atomic Bitchwax, Fu Manchu and The Fucking Champs…excellent musicianship” Terrorizer Magazine

“If Steve Harris [yes, Iron Maiden's own] moved to Montreal and started eating poutine and joined Corrosion of Conformity I’d imagine it would sound a lot like this. It hasn’t left my constant rotation for weeks, and I presume it is there to stay.” AbsoluteUnderground.ca

“Montreal’s Barn Burner is one of the most impressive Sabbath-inspired bands we’ve heard in a long time. The band’s newest offering, Bangers (New Romance for Kids), is pure stoney mayhem. Comprised of heavy, minimal riffs, driving drums and major solos, this album will satiate any metal head’s yearning for primal rock.” ChronicYouth.com

barn burner + exclaim

Barn Burner Bangers By Sam Sutherland Holy shit. Rock'n'roll is awesome, right? Montreal's Barn Burner know this and Bangers is the proof. Like Torche, minus the drone, plus Black Flag, Barn Burner craft catchy, heavy songs that play like Cheap Trick's long-lost stab at punk rock credibility. "Holy Smokes" opens the proceedings with a bang, wasting no time in getting down to total guitar-shredding business, while songs like "The Long Arm Of The Law" drive forward with more hardcore energy and "whoa oh" action than classic rock aggression. All signs point to Barn Burner having a pretty fierce dedication to partying (check out "Beer Today, Bong Tomorrow"), and Bangers is the ideal soundtrack to the kind of Sabbath-drenched rager that like-minded folks will feel right at home at. (New Romance For Kids)

Barn Burner: A mix of boozy metal and stoner rock from Montreal

The Concordian (Montreal)
Burning down the barn
Daniel Maxham
Issue date: 10/6/09
Section: Music

Media Credit: Courtesy of the Artist

Media Credit: Courtesy of the Artist

If Barn Burner were a lonely man describing himself on an Internet dating website, their interests would likely include huge riffs, beer bongs, Iron Maiden, and coming up with puns about getting high, while getting high.
But in fact they're a local band whose first full-length album, Bangers, released this past summer, mixes elements of boogie-rock and stoner-metal, to create the perfect soundtrack for double-fisting cans of Alberta's Best with your buddies.

Singer/guitarist Kevin Keaglesmith, talks about heavy riffs, touring Canada, and his Dad.

Q: On the Barn Burner MySpace page you describe the band as "riffs…just riffs." What are some of your all time favourite guitar riffs?
A: (After much deliberation) "Supernaut" by Black Sabbath is probably one of my favourites … "Kick Start My Heart" by Mötley Crue is pretty crucial, "Raining Blood," "Blackened" by Metallica, there's so many…

Q: Your song "Beer Today, Bong Tomorrow" strikes me as an apt description of your sound and style. Do you see Barn Burner as more of a beer drinking boogie-rock band or a doobie smoking stoner metal band?
A: The beer drinking part is there, but were sort of trying to get away from the boogie part a bit, we started sort of in the Thin Lizzy, Deep Purple '70s boogie rock style, but then we evolved more towards the heavy metal side, more along the lines of Iron Maiden. Di'Anno-era Iron Maiden influenced me in a big way, and then newer stuff like Mastodon and things like that, we're getting heavier and heavier as we go.

Q: Are you guys as debaucherous as your music suggests?
A: We're definitely a party band, we like to tour and all the things that go along with touring are things that we sort of live for, so yeah definitely debaucherous.
Q: You guys are going on a small tour of Eastern Canada and playing shows in some pretty small towns, what's it like playing somewhere like Coldbrook, Nova Scotia?
A: I haven't played too many small towns with Barn Burner yet, but in another band I played Coldbrook and it was awesome; it was an all ages show and there were a lot of kids in the town who don't see a lot of shows, so when there is a show, especially all ages, it's quite an event for them. They might even be better than a lot of our bigger city shows.

Q: I sort of imagine touring Canada being a fun, but gruelling experience, like in Hard Core Logo.
A: I haven't seen Hard Core Logo in years, but yeah Canada is a bit of a wasteland to tour through, it's a ton of driving and not a lot of places to actually play.

Q: Have you ever come close to reaching your breaking point, or have you been able to stay positive?
A: So far so good. If you have too many shitty shows in a row, your moral gets pretty low but if there's even somewhat of a response it always keeps you going. It's the days off that really stunt everybody and their enthusiasm because if you're not playing for a few days and you're broke and you're trying to figure out how to eat and where to stay and stuff like that, that's when the shit sort of hits the fan. But if you're playing every night you have an outlet, which is good.

Q: Does your mom like Barn Burner?
A: I don't think she thinks I have much of a future playing in go-nowhere rock 'n' roll bands, she'd like to see me become a plumber or something like that, she's not too pumped, but she lets me do my thing. But my dad, he's a big fan, he comes to my shows and brings my uncles and buys merchandise for the rest of the family, it's pretty ridiculous.

For more information on Barn Burner, visit: www.myspace.com/theinfamousbarnburner

Barn Burner - August round up

BARN BURNER Round out AUG in top 5!

!earshot charts - august 2009 - top 20 loud

Rank	Artist	Title	Label
1	Sunn O)))	Monoliths & Dimensions	Southern Lord
2	Coalesce	Ox	Relapse
3	Blackguard *	Profugus Mortis	Nuclear Blast
4	Dead And Divine *	The Machines We Are	Distort
5	Barn Burner *	Bangers	New Romance For Kids
6	Obituary	Darkest Day	Gibtown
7	Goatwhore	Carving Out The Eyes Of God	Metal Blade
8	Blood Tsunami	Grand Feast For Vultures	Candlelight
9	Augury *	Fragmentary Evidence	Goodfellow
10	Dream Theater	Black Clouds & Silver Linings	Roadrunner

shitty hungarian translation hard to understand, but seems like a good review

If you think about Canada better be strong enough to rock / metal point of view, because there you Voivod than overcomes classic styles, there are thousands of Devin Townsend's project, the second-line bands, who, if not much, but at least once villantanak, such as 3 Inches of blood, and there is today sikersztorija of Danko Jones. I was beginning to emerge in me a conspiracy theory that the metal, which provides hockey powers at the same time, see: Sweden, Finland, Canada, United States, for example, but not very metálzenekar Czech or Russian, so it is just ruins konspirációs this thread. So here's the good little Barn Burner, who like many things on the Danko Jones: they, too, Canadians, and they are also the complexity of stone, pressed against the Rock'n'Roll simple, but much better.

I looked at some of the YouTube clip, Danko Jones and the last disc also átrágtam myself, but it's fine I do not understand what it is up to the current high-Danko Jones-mania. Because although the music is really not bad, but not really good, a very good, moreover, as if the singer is also an acute beszédhibával fight. But no matter, I come not to praise Danko Jones, but say that he is missing something (weight, riffs, pulling, dog, tone) to the Barn Burner to come. The disk Bangers 9 dalából 6 total hit. Tuff, punk, heavy, sztóneres-meter kékeres, vulgar simple rock music, Holy Smokes is one of the strongest song of the year. From the számcímekből the disk can be very deep and thought-provoking social and philosophical message: Fast Woman, Beer Today, Tomorrow Bong, Holy Smokes. Beery atmosphere is nice music, starring the riffs, and some 70 years' psychedelia. The songs are usually 3-4 minutes to move, sometimes they are a monumental break for stroke, such as 6 and a half minutes Brohemoth, but not very variálják things too, of course, to slip to 1-2 on the atmosphere. The best song is probably the Holy Smokes and Wizard Island in the closing instrumental album Old Habbits, but basically there is no error in it. The following video to see two songs can be heard, the Runnin 'Reds will not make out much from the one who now hears the first time, but it is worth előrecsévélni 2:45-until, because there is the Tremors, and destroy it. Fund.

http://leggitar.blog.hu/

www.chronicyouth.com

BARN BURNER: BEER TODAY, BONG TOMORROW

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Barn Burner Beer Today, Bong Tomorrow New Romance for Kids

Montreal’s Barn Burner is one of the most impressive Sabbath-inspired bands we’ve heard in a long time. The band’s newest offering, Bangers (New Romance for Kids), is pure stoney mayhem. Comprised of heavy, minimal riffs, driving drums and major solos, this album will satiate any metal head’s yearning for primal rock. “Beer Today, Bong Tomorrow” is a new staple in any Chronic Youth DJ set. Be sure to check these dudes out in Brooklyn as we rage with them for a few to-be-announced CMJ showcases.

Barn Burner’s Bangers is out now via New Romance for Kids.

http://www.thisisbooksmusic.com

This Is Book’s Music

Music reviews, news, opinions + more

REVIEW: Barn Burner’s “Bangers”

Published August 26th, 2009 at 11:10 am in Music Reviews with no comments
Tagged with Barnburner, hard rock, heavy metal

If you use the title of this album in the way hip-hop artists do, then one might expect for this hard rock album to be full of bangers, or great songs. Barn Burner take from the hard rock and metal traditions of the 70’s and 80’s, combine the best elements of Black Sabbath, Judas Priest, Iron Maiden, and Monster Magnet, mix it in with the same power one might hear when performed by The Foo Fighters, Wolfmother and Queens Of The Stone Age, each of whom were influenced by the same bands, and come up with a riff lover’s heaven with Bangers (New Romance For Kids).

These guys are heavy and show a love for that kind of crunch I grew up listening to, but do it with an unabashed modern attitude which, as they say in “Fast Women”, is not meant to be fucked with. I say this because even with some of the comparisons to older bands, they are very much of the now, and what I like is the fine balance between the heaviness and vocal harmonies, although do not mistake them for being a pop band. Granted, Barn Burners should be extremely popular but they are not Mötley Crüe or Warrant. They will give the guys in Valient Thorr a run for their money, but in the end they could drink and smoke until it’s time to stock up on meat for the next hard rock BBQ.

This is what this is, mighty fine hard rock, just like mom used to fear. Then again, your mom might have been a groupie, who knows.

Absolute Underground

BARN BURNERS - Bangers

Wednesday, August 19th, 2009

New Romance for Kids Records

A powerhouse of an album has landed from this driving force from Montreal. I’m finding it very hard to draw comparisons to any existing band. If Steve Harris [yes, Iron Maiden's own] moved to Montreal and started eating poutine and joined Corrosion of Conformity I’d imagine it would sound a lot like this. Heavily driven by the art of the riff - the fuzzed out guitars take center stage throughout the nine tracks. Vocalist K. Keaglesmith Commands attention on the microphone Clever track titles including “Beer Today, Bong Tomorrow”, but this band is no joke. It hasn’t left my constant rotation for weeks, and I presume it is there to stay.
-Pauly HC

MONTREAL MIRROR

Barnburner
Bangers (New Romance for Kids)
With the mind-numbing title to this debut and songs like “Beer Today, Bong Tomorrow,” “Wizard Island” and “Brohemoth,” you would figure these local heshers would have their tongues firmly placed in cheeks, but with double-barrelled riffs this blazing, these “brahs” are hardly just in it for the yuks. Bang the head that doesn’t beer-bong. 7/10 Trial Track: “Beer Today, Bong Tomorrow” (Johnson Cummins)

EXCLAIM

Barn Burner
Bangers
By Keith Carman



Forming a strong union between the directness of boogie metal with intimations towards '70s fuzz, à la Thin Lizzy, yet updated and with vocal sensibilities that recall Vancouver's Darkest Of The Hillside Thickets, Montreal's Barn Burner accomplish much with the wonky and wanky, yet wonderful, Bangers. Ranging in attack from laidback shuffles to combative grit, there's a touch of everything, creating a unique meeting ground between groove metal and punk rock'n'roll. All of it's accented by the crisp production of producer/engineer Adrian Popovich (Tricky Woo, Sam Roberts, the Dears, Sebastian Grainger), resulting in an album that features the warmth and familiar undertones of Sometimes I Cry yet blazes with the fury of Leviathan. (New Romance For Kids)

BANGERS OUT SOON (CD AND LP)