:: The Bones - Burnout Boulevard

The Bones

One of Century Media Records’ strangest acquisitions in recent times is Swedish punk/rock act The Bones. After being together for just over a decade, The Bones have released countless singles, EPs and three modestly successful releases on People Like You Records. But in the first half of 2007, the four-piece act decided to make the step up to a bigger label in Century Media Records, armed with their last full-length effort ‘Burnout Boulevard’. As mentioned earlier, the easiest way to sum up The Bones’ sound is punk/rock, which is like an amalgamation of classic rock ‘n’ roll and melodic punk rock. As you would expect, this means that songs barely break the three and a half minute mark, with the band packing as much punk into the timeframe as they can. Unlike a lot of bands doing the punk/rock thing, The Bones ensure there’s plenty of variation on the thirteen track album. There’s also plenty of rocking lead guitar work on the album too, which is something missi9ng from a lot of punk acts these days.

Without so much as a bad track featured on the album, it’s hard to pick any faults on ‘Burnout Boulevard’, but there are a few standout tracks worthy of singling out. Tracks such as the gang vocalized ‘Flatline Fever’, the fist shaking ‘She Hates Me (Yeah Yeah Yeah)’, the stoner rock groove of ‘Stuck In The Mud’, the infectious ‘Sealed With A Fist’, the slower paced ‘Not Predictable’ and the sing along classic ‘Fit In My Skin’ are just some of the really strong selections featured on the album. The Bones aren’t reinventing the punk/rock sound on ‘Burnout Boulevard’, but then neither is anyone else these days. But what they have managed to do is record an album that doesn’t have a single weak moment, and that’s an achievement in itself. If punk/rock is your thing, and you’re sick and tired of what the punk label is dishing out as punk these days, then it might be worth checking out The Bones’ latest effort.