BURGERS OF BEEF - Ride To Victory - X-Press, March 2006

With many local bands focussing on the retro sounds of the '60s or the 'new new age' in the search of some cursory national radio airplay, it is refreshing to see a band that has the gumption to travel down the path less trodden. The Burgers Of Beef have obviously been raised on a diet of '90s indie-pop and they wear their passion for the genre firmly on their sleeve. Chad Jayne may well be the bastard son of Jonathan Richman and David McCormack with his tongue in cheek delivery - particularly on the likes of Linda (the band's ode to Linda Ronstadt), Sorry I Fell Asleep In Your Breakfast and The Tooth Fairy Is Scary. That said, their first full length Ride To Victory sees the Burgers Of Beef kick off the 'one trick pony' tag as they unleash their most accomplished tunes to date. Satellite is one of the most tidy pop tunes to surface out of this town in a recent times with Deanne Snedden's thin voice acting as the perfect foil for Jayne's confident swagger. Singles Glitter Ball rushes in like a Catholic on the wedding night with the band signature trombone coming to the fore and the brilliant and quirky Love Song would be perfectly at home in a John Waters film. Unlike Billy Corgan, the Burgers Of Beef are a band that are able to take their music seriously, without taking themselves too seriously. Ride on!