Sometimes the promotional sheets that come with most CDs, intended to give the writer some information about the band, are as unnecessary as Guido Westerwelle. However, with this CD, I would have wished for a bit more information. Whenever you need information, it seems to be scarce.
The band BURN PILOT hails from the capital of East Westphalia, Bielefeld, but they don't sound like a village or small town; they sound like something substantial.
The title "Bohemian Trauma" initially made me think of an album that takes stock of the emerging bohemia in Germany; in Berlin's Prenzlauer Berg, they already talk about a unique bohemia, the Bionade bohemia.
However, the Bielefeld band is not taking stock, at least not in the classical sense.
The band offers eight songs on their album that want to be heard. Not just heard, they want to be discovered, but they also take you into a dream world, a world where everything is more relaxed, dreamy, and beautiful.
BURN PILOT still makes rock music. The three-member band manages to bring rocky sounds into demanding and artistic frameworks. There are guitar solos, drum solos, few vocal parts, and progressive song structures. It's hard to describe the style; perhaps it could be labeled Rock-Ambient or Dream-Progressive or Hard-Psychedelic. None of these labels are entirely accurate, but none are entirely wrong either.
The fast songs like "Cent" slightly disturb the dreamy impression that the album largely creates, but they fit well into the mix as a refreshing change and show that the band can really push forward when they want to.
BURN PILOT has created a sound on "Bohemian Trauma" that is unique, that can also move quickly, that is multi-layered, and is surely the perfect soundtrack for mild summer nights.
