Officially released on June 3rd, Philadelphia’s THE BAD DOCTORS are putting the finishing touches on their debut full-length Burning City. The album is now available for physical preorder via FDH Records and digitally on iTunes.
The Bad Doctors are releasing their first full length album, Burning City on June 3rd worldwide. The sound of The Bad Doctors comes from a concentrated study of new-wave and the goth side of post-punk, paired with an extensive array of synthesizers and electronics. They’ve been conceptually developing their upcoming record since their start in 2009, and it is easily their most ambitious project to date. The Bad Doctors’ Burning City is an attempt to map the human spirit: ecstatic, decadent, and tragic all at once. It traces our flights of passion, stands knee-deep in our flooded basements, and walks our collapsing back-alleys.
From the opening notes it’s apparent how important the synthesizers are for the tone of the record, leaping forward while the band itself catches up. Combined with precision drumming, melodic bass lines, driving guitar riffs, and poetic lyrics, The Bad Doctors bring a tumult of orchestrated electronic madness into a groundbreaking study of pop song structures. The band has crafted a hybrid of post-punk, new-wave, dance, and indie that keeps you in a modern time frame while also sounding eerily like a record that could have been in the vaults of Factory Records.
Burning City is littered with highlights that come in an array of shapes and colors. “Departure (Letter by Letter)” is a pulsating mixture of guitar, bass, drums and electronic sounds, exposing this crushing hybrid sound in the most dazzling way possible. A glowing solo is interwoven around buzzy synth swells, sounding dark yet vibrant in a rush of sweeping intensity. “Red Shift” wields a motorik beat with twangy and wrinkled guitars. Frontman Matt McDermott sounds bold and brooding, backed by glittery brushes of technicolor synth and wiry guitar jangles. Self-titled track “Burning City” comes with heavy drum thuds and a creepy sci-fi snarl. Bright and wispy synths act as a buoy through the stormy waters, crafting up this seething sound with a added dose of evil.
After a few listens, this record seeps its way into the darkest labyrinths of your mind, projecting it’s glittering glass and surreal nightmares onto the cities we live in. While it is bound to make you nostalgic for the 1980’s, Burning City is more than just another new-wave clone. Find out for yourself by checking out this stream of the entire LP right below – you won’t find it anywhere else!
You can pre-order the physical LP from FDH Records right now. You can also pre-order the LP digitally via iTunes, which will immediately get you the digital-only bonus track “Just in Case.” Then we’ll see you at the record release show on May 16th at Boot & Saddle in Philadelphia.
My Rating: SS
Genre/ Tags: Electronic, Post-Punk, Synth Pop, New Wave
Burning City LP: Tracklist:
1.) Prism, Mirror, Lens
2.) Sleepwalk
3.) Departure (Letter by Letter)
4.) In Time of Plague
5.) Metamophoses; Phaeton
6.) Red Shift
7.) The School of Athens
8.) AC
9.) Burning City
10.) The Big Bang
11.) Just in Case (digital only bonus track)
PREORDER the LP from FDH Records – lots of order combinations including totes, test-presses and slip mats !
PREORDER via iTunes and receive the digital-only bonus track right away !
The Bad Doctors on Facebook
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