As with their previous releases, Burning Brides demonstrate the ways in which the different aspects of their musical vision benefit from their mutual inclusion, as the Brides’ ability to pummel with brute force contrasts nicely with the pop sensibilities that they continue to hone. Coming on the heels of 2007’s bruising Hang Love, the newest Brides album plays as a heavy yet sun-kissed portrait of a band whose continued evolution has allowed them to access unbridled levels of energy and confidence. The Brides have compiled a freakishly good catalogue and sterling reputation for ripping it up live in the years since their inception, but the bond and resulting comfort level between singer/guitarist Dimitri Coats and bassist Melanie Coats have never been more evident than on Anhedonia. The album stands as further evidence of the band’s unique talent for incorporating some of their favorite influences while producing a signature sound that remains the backbone of their sonic exploits even as the Brides explore some new facets of that blueprint.
Two elements primarily define Burning Brides’ ethos and remain interwoven throughout their catalogue: the willingness to hurtle headlong into caterwauling rock and roll oblivion and the recognition of when to choke back before hitting full-on supernova status. Were either offshoot of the Brides’ musical DNA practiced within a vacuum, the overall potency of their work would not be fully realized. While Burning Brides may never be accused of killing anyone softly, they have always had a keen appreciation for the moments when a thunderous riff can be momentarily supplanted with a lilting vocal harmony or serpentine bassline, as the band seem to recognize the value in both headbanging and hip-swaying. Much of this phenomenon can be attributed to Dimitri Coats’ voice, as he possesses the kind of range that enables him to evoke ear-bleeding howls that would make Linda Blair blush alongside rhythmic melodies without sacrificing pitch or tone. Perhaps most importantly, Dimitri’s voice contains the kind of stomach churning emotive quality that unfurls itself as if it was being transmitted via a previously forgotten dream. His ability to summon different approaches underscores the Brides’ overall penchant for going big without losing any resonance, and beginning with the album opener Lovesick, Dimitri calls in some vocal reinforcements in the form of real-life bride Melanie.
Anhedonia marks the first time in the Brides’ recorded history that Melanie has joined the fray on the mic, and her introduction to the formula proves seamless, as she lends the proceedings an added depth that ultimately distinguishes this batch of songs from their predecessors. The inclusion of Melanie in the booth is an exciting development for a band already teeming with a seemingly inexhaustible arsenal, and her teaming with Dimitri on tracks like Flesh and Bone points a way in which the Brides will undoubtedly expand that arsenal moving forward. Anhedonia is similarly packed with examples of the ways in which the Brides have gelled over the course of their last two albums. Having endured considerable professional and personal turmoil in the period leading up to the 2007 release of Hang Love, the Coats welcomed drummer Pete Beeman into their inner circle and proceeded to exorcise their demons with a torrent of bonecrushing body blows and knockout shots in which entire nations died, serial killers hit the streets, and all of Mother Nature burned courtesy of Dimitri’s imagination. While Anhedonia still possesses the weight of earlier releases, it’s refreshing to see the Brides emerge with their fangs temporarily sheathed. Anhedonia definitely packs a punch, but the record serves notice that Burning Brides don’t necessarily have to lead with their fists. The songs on this record seem to permeate the space between your ears and worm their way up your veins without going the scorched earth route. Whether it’s the upwardly spiraling riff of Summer Leaves or the sporadic bursts of If One of Us Goes Further, the Brides have successfully navigated the feat of producing a guitar-oriented album that most often forsakes nosedives for attempts at flying into the sun. The album explodes in reds, oranges, and yellows, and Dimitri’s opening declaration “What falls apart comes back together/ the body heals with time” stands in stark contrast to some of the themes he has most recently explored while setting the regenerative tone that encompasses much of Anhedonia.
The Brides stay true to their form in allowing the balance of the record to rest upon Dimitri’s guitars, and the erstwhile guitar hero helps shape the mood of the record by opting for cleaner guitar tones even as he puts forth some Jimmy Page-esque guitar lines that manage to reverberate without muddying the waters. Dimitri has never had any problems going the overtly (or subversively) anthemic route, but his progression as a songwriter is paramount on one of Anhedonia’s standout tracks, This Is a Wave, which emerges as a surf rock elegy that calls to mind the elegant melancholia of Nirvana’s All Apologies. Whether they’re exploring more nuanced approaches or cranking their pedals in fullscale paint-peeling mode, Burning Brides bring a palpable passion to their songs. The Brides have never been interested in putting rock in quotation marks or trafficking in ironic conceptualization, as Dimitri succinctly surmises in Start Your Own Religion, “Rock and roll is dead/rock and roll is free/ rock and roll is everything to me”. With Anhedonia, Burning Brides have continued to cement their legacy as proponents of the kind of rock and roll that can render all other pleasures powerless, as they’ve created an album that aptly showcases their strengths while highlighting a desire to push the boundaries of the qualities that make them so unique. - Brant Miles
San Diego
Burning Brides Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
I wanna go to where you were born
All I want is you even if I can't have it
Don't take me to a place I don't wanna go
Don't tell me something I already know
We're gonna learn everything from bad habits
And I give myself to the open water
I'm looking for something to take
I'm looking for a missing hot snake
Early bird gets an apple full of black maggots
Live it down till the day you die
Never look a needle in the eye
Open up, open really wide
You can't have it
And I give myself to the open water
And I give myself to the bleeding sun
I align myself with New England winter
And I give myself unto you
Drag it out, walk it home
San Diego
Let's go down and take a breath under water
Make like shipwrecks for a few centuries
You and I will relax into eternity
And become as bottomless as the sea
And I give myself to the open water
And I give myself to the bleeding sun
I will find you there through the foggy weather
And I give myself unto you
Drag it out, walk it home
San Diego
The song "San Diego" by Burning Brides is a melancholy and introspective reflection on the longing for a place and person that cannot be reached. The lyrics start with the desire to go somewhere warm, where the person the singer is yearning for was born, but it quickly becomes clear that the place and the person are both unattainable.
The lines "All I want is you even if I can't have it" and "Don't take me to a place I don't wanna go/Don't tell me something I already know" convey the sense of frustration and resignation that comes with longing for something that is out of reach. The second verse continues to explore the theme of longing and unfulfilled desires, with the lines "I'm looking for something to take/I'm looking for a missing hot snake" suggesting a search for a sense of completeness that never comes.
The chorus, with the repeated lines "And I give myself to the open water/And I give myself to the bleeding sun", creates a sense of surrender, as if the singer is accepting that they cannot have what they want and are willing to give themselves over to something bigger than themselves. The final lines of the song, "I will find you there through the foggy weather/And I give myself unto you/Drag it out, walk it home/San Diego", suggest a kind of spiritual release, as if the singer has given up trying to control their own fate and has put their trust in something else.
Overall, "San Diego" is a poignant meditation on the nature of longing and the struggle to come to terms with unfulfilled desires.
Line by Line Meaning
I wanna go where it's warm
I want to be in a place where it's warm and comfortable
I wanna go to where you were born
I want to be where you came from
All I want is you even if I can't have it
I only desire to be with you, even if it's not possible
Don't take me to a place I don't wanna go
I don't want to go somewhere I don't want to be taken to
Don't tell me something I already know
I don't want to hear something that I already know
We're gonna learn everything from bad habits
We will learn everything from the bad things we do
And I give myself to the open water
I surrender myself to the vast ocean
And I give myself to the bleeding sun
I submit myself to the setting sun
I'm looking for something to take
I'm searching for something to steal
I'm looking for a missing hot snake
I'm searching for a stolen object that was once in possession of a drug dealer
Early bird gets an apple full of black maggots
Getting up early doesn't always bring rewards, sometimes it brings unpleasant surprises
Live it down till the day you die
Deal with it for the rest of your life
Never look a needle in the eye
Don't confront your addiction head-on, instead avoid it
Open up, open really wide
Be completely honest and transparent
You can't have it
It's not something you can have or get
I align myself with New England winter
I associate myself with the harshness of a New England winter
And I give myself unto you
I surrender myself to you completely
Drag it out, walk it home
Take your time, but eventually face reality and deal with it
San Diego
A location that symbolizes warmth, comfort, and freedom
Let's go down and take a breath under water
Let's dive deep and take a leap of faith
Make like shipwrecks for a few centuries
Stay still and preserve ourselves like old shipwrecks
You and I will relax into eternity
We will remain together and relaxed forever
And become as bottomless as the sea
Let's become as vast and deep as the ocean
I will find you there through the foggy weather
I will search for you through difficult and unclear circumstances
Contributed by Scarlett H. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
jamie soares
where is this show........I saw them in Montreal, Canada and it was an amazing show.
Will K Shilling
The bleeding sun. Yes.
Alfredo Cárdenas
it was at Foufounes Electriques, also Montréal