History
The band formed in 1994, around the time the Dead Milkmen announced their plans to disband the following year after a final tour and album. Taking their name from the 1962 horror film of the same name, Burn Witch Burn was composed of Linderman, his wife Vienna and a cast of additional instrumentalists. They crafted a distinct sound drawing from several forms of folk music (including Irish and Americana styles) and a "Pogues-esque" punk rock sensibility, with a dark element sufficient to frequently earn them "goth" and "gypsy" tags. This dark edge, reflected in songs of murder, misery, alcoholism, pestilence and the occult, was a sharp left turn from the Dead Milkmen's comedic lyrical motifs, although Burn Witch Burn lyrics were not without their own sense of black humor (notable in such songs as "Treetop Flotilla", which includes an anecdote about an abusive, Led Zeppelin-listening "fake biker".) The band also utilized an array of unique instrumentation, including the tin whistle, violin, mandolin, banjolin, bouzouki, melodeon, and hurdy-gurdy, in addition to the standard guitar, bass and drums.
The band's first release was a six song demo tape in 1995. 1997 saw a seven-song self-released CD-ep, The Burning Times, which included a cover of The Velvet Underground's "All Tomorrow's Parties".
In 2000, Burn Witch Burn recorded a full-length, self-titled album, released on the Philadelphia-based Razler Records imprint (which was also the home to Butterfly Joe, a group featuring half of the Dead Milkmen). The album included re-recordings of much of the band's first two minor releases, some new original material, and a Rolling Stones cover, "Citadel".
The group disbanded in 2001. Fergusson and Rodney Linderman later formed the group 25 Cromwell Street, playing in the style of Burn Witch Burn and incorporating several of the latter group's songs into its set.
Read more about this topic: Burn Witch Burn
Famous quotes containing the word history:
“To summarize the contentions of this paper then. Firstly, the phrase ‘the meaning of a word’ is a spurious phrase. Secondly and consequently, a re-examination is needed of phrases like the two which I discuss, ‘being a part of the meaning of’ and ‘having the same meaning.’ On these matters, dogmatists require prodding: although history indeed suggests that it may sometimes be better to let sleeping dogmatists lie.”
—J.L. (John Langshaw)
“The disadvantage of men not knowing the past is that they do not know the present. History is a hill or high point of vantage, from which alone men see the town in which they live or the age in which they are living.”
—Gilbert Keith Chesterton (1874–1936)
“Jesus Christ belonged to the true race of the prophets. He saw with an open eye the mystery of the soul. Drawn by its severe harmony, ravished with its beauty, he lived in it, and had his being there. Alone in all history he estimated the greatness of man.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)