Atlanta-based act Blueburst craft a resonating rock sound with textured guitar melodics and hooky vocal fervency, evidenced throughout their standout 2023 album Significance. The release’s opening track “Vanish” caught our ears back then with its soaring and nostalgic rock appeal, exemplary of the quality songwriting from guitarist/vocalist Craig Douglas Miller. Miller’s collaboration with noted guitarist Marty Willson-Piper (The Church, Noctorum, All About Eve) comprises Blueburst, whose alt-rock and post-punk melding is consistently immersive.
Amongst the many highlights on Significance, the track “Kick My Tires” is a sturdily melodic success with thematic explorations of self-doubt, external judgment, and the struggle for autonomy — championing a resolve to break free and take control of one’s own life. “My entire life’s on trial by the whimsy of you,” Miller’s vocals let out, arising into a title-touting resonance thereafter. The original version compels in its anthemic central vocal swell and moody guitar work, captivating especially as the ghostly backing vocals venture into ardent guitar work past the three-minute turn.
While the original succeeds in its own right, Blueburst’s newly released Kick My Tires EP provides three different takes on the track — all consuming with their own personalities. The track’s “Kick Mix” was remixed by Ben Etter, and places enjoyable emphasis on Michael Jerome’s fantastic drumming. An instrumental version is also on the EP, enabling listeners to get an even fuller grasp of the intoxicating guitar work and rhythmic additions.
Concluding the EP, the “Nebraska” Version touts a memorable acoustic take, inspired by Bruce Springsteen’s classic album Nebraska. The band note that it was “recorded on a vintage Tascam Portastudio 414 cassette 4-track, with only an Echoplex delay as an effect.” Its sparser, lush approach is magnetic, and continues to thoroughly showcase the strong songwriting apparent on “Kick My Tires” and throughout the act’s releases thus far.
