“It hurts too much to care.”
Right there Burning Bush is speaking to my dark, tired, 12:30 a.m. soul. And it just gets so much better.
I remember when this submission first came in and I was like holy crap, these guys are lo fi garage gods. And my brethren, that still holds true.
Burning Bush is X Hankel – vocals, guitar, Tahquiy Smith on drums, and Jonah Felde on bass. They all live in Norwich, Vermont, and all just graduated class of 2018 from Hanover High School in Hanover, NH.
I’m just gonna leave that right there. I may have done some great things in high school, but I sure as hell didn’t produce a track like this. I’m pretty sure I didn’t even know how to floss yet.
We all sorta thought high school was a drag and by the end of it we were all barely scraping by. Glad to be out. Jonah just started playing on the bass a few weeks ago. In contrast, Tahquiys father is a professional Jamaican drummer and as a kid he grew up playing keyboard in his dads bands’ live shows. Raised on classical piano, jazz, and reggae, he took a big liking to Pink Floyd in his teens, and Nick Masons drumming is one of many inspirations. Jonah played violin growing up, though his influences now are the reggae and Pink Floyd of Tahquiy as well as some jam bands (Santana, Allman Brothers, Grateful Dead). Staring into this screen is me, X, and my Dad raised me on a shitton of Beatles, some Stones and Dylan, and some new wave, though these days my favorite bands are Pavement and Sonic Youth.
I discovered Sonic Youth way later than these guys did. Which makes me feel like a fraud. Here, Burning Bush, take over this magazine. You worked for it, you deserve it. I’m just gonna go listen to PiL and wish I was 18 again.
We are not typical teens having fun trying to make it. We are all touched by the philosophies of John Lennon, Bob Marley, the 60s art movement as a whole, and we want strong messages of peace and love in our music so that can spread in our world. Its all very intentional.
Cooler than I’ll ever be, allow me to introduce you to Burning Bush: