“Burn” by Rocket 3
Readers of a certain vintage will recall a prehistory during which MTV played music videos to the exclusion of everything but the occasional music news. So popular were these short films that they were even categorized by genre into blocks of specialized programming, which is where Rocket 3 comes in. Based on their melodic new album Burn, Rocket 3 is the kind of group that would have been a lock on 120 Minutes, sandwiched between Belly and They Might Be Giants. In fact, fans of Tanya Donelly who pine for the simple, clean pop of “Feed The Tree” would find a lot to like in Burn. Tracks like “Catch Me” and “Never Again” have a classic kind of rock band balance: your ear can follow the guitar or bass or drums or vocal cleanly through entire songs. There’s studio polish; the record sounds very professional in the best possible way. You can hear that this is a band playing, not disparate elements assembled to create structures.
Ramune Nagisetty’s vocals are just this side of delicate, ranging from the straightforward rock of Kristin Hersh to the breathy ethereality of Miki from Lush. Her voice works well with the band’s chunky pop-rock; her guitar, Drew Anymouse’s drumming, and Tony Guzman’s bass recall the ‘90s bands who were throwbacks to ‘70s bands like The Knack. There are no gimmicks here, just solid, straightforward,refreshing, fun pop songs. »
– Eric Evans
