The Burdens
Working Class Joke
GMM
Good punk rock with the feel of the Sex Pistols! Really! Their songs have the same disgusted sneer, the snotty vocals reminiscent of Johnny Rotten (“Burden On Society” some might say “borrows” from “Sub-mission” or “New York”). The songs all have that strange “Monkees meet the Stooges” sound that is distinctively Pistol-ish.
The Burdens, although it says they’re from California, sound like they escaped from some English industrial town. “Putting Me Down” seems to be a rant directed at the rich kids, the ones whose father owns the factory or drives a new car. “Innocent” is another classic working-class British punk song as are “Better Off Dead” and “So American.” While the music keeps with the feeling of the British punk movement, songs like “Rodney,” “Painless,” and “Stupid One” are distinctly American in their treatment of subjects like drugs and suicide, middle class idiocy and guns and applied anger. “Cadillac Man” is another tirade about American materialism, a theme popular with early punks, especially the ones who were poor!
Working Class Joke is a fine punk rock record, a good blast of fresh punk air that’s always welcome. GMM Records, P.O. Box 15234, Atlanta, GA 30333
