From the small town of Lowell, MA, indie punk crew Burp. have followed up their debut album, Acid Reflux, with new six-track EP Video Games & Cartoons.
As the title may suggest, the collection is a nostalgic trip down memory lane. Each single has a childhood photo of one of the band members and the aesthetic is fittingly playful. The tracks are varied sonically and there’s often a tongue-in-cheek frankness to the lyrics.
But Burp.’s sound is all grown up.
“Ricky Mortis” is an infectious emo pop hit. Punky guitars and catchy choruses combine for a track that could get stuck in your head all day long.
A potency and depth is added on “Checkers.” Grunge tones wipe out the playful hooks as the band tackle moving forward from a toxic relationship.
Around every bend, there’s a surprise on Video Games & Cartoons. Acoustic tearjerker “Stars” offers a stark juxtaposition from what came before it.
Their textbook Midwest emo riffs on “Sorry About Nathan” are frenetic but moreish and zip around the vocal work of Leo Folan. Burp. like to offset raw punk edge with melody and they do it here as well as anywhere on the album.
The quartet playfully refers to themselves as ‘The Beatles of Lowell.’ “ELW” is the closest they get sonically to the Liverpudlian icons. It’s part ’60’s power pop, part contemporary pop-rock, and sums up the band’s sharp ability to seamlessly take what is a treasure chest full of influences both across generation and genre and hone those into a clever, infectious track.
The band’s Spotify profile reads: “If you like music, there’s about a 47% you’ll like Burp.” Based on Video Games & Cartoons, it’s fair to assume that number will be significantly higher.
Photo courtesy of Burp.
