Burning Streets – Sit Still

Sit Still is apparently Burning Streets’s second full-length, and it’s a testament to the band’s prowess that while they do so much wrong here, I’m still hooked. Sit Still is, for the most part, a spirited and hook-filled album that’s rife with some glaring fuckups. Musically, the band’s treading ground familiar to groups like the Generators and Bombshell Rocks; music deeply rooted in both Southern California beach punk and 70s UK streetpunk, but more reliant on formidable, heartfelt lyrics. When they’re on, they’re on, but those missteps threaten to bog this record down. Thankfully, they never do, not entirely.

Still the stumbles are numerous: Drew Juliano’s vocals are definitely interesting, high-pitched and almost always discernible, but there are frequent moments (the opening track “Distance Between” being one of them) where his high range almost becomes too operatic and threatens to turn the band into a caricature of itself. And while Sit Still’s production is excellent and rich and generally sounds great, it also sounds incredibly slick and questionably radio-friendly at times. And while “Let Me Go” finds the band exploring the Humpers/Architects/proto garage genre, which they do well enough, it certainly seems a little out of place on the record. Other experiments, such as the odd exclamations and clips of band conversations on “Full-Time Gamblers” and “Comfort In Confusion” also really threaten to topple the respective songs. And lastly, the cover art is pretty bad and goddamn, the majority of these songs push past the four-minute mark, you guys. Come on.

And yet this band is really pretty good. Seriously good, actually.

These eleven songs are relentlessly catchy and almost always anthemic in scope. Juliano’s voice is decipherable and his lyrics are so greatly heartfelt that I’ve found myself willing to overlook a lot. Sit Still is a strong album in spite of its limitations, and it’s grown on me considerably since the first time I listened to it.