Born To Be Burned

.Footloose and relatively fancy free, former Bunnymen Ian McCulloch and Will Sergeant have reunited in the name of Electrafixion. It may also have been in the name of art, or love, or rock'n'roll. But whatever the c(l)ause, these two Liverpudlians work far better together than they do separately - and in 1995, they know it.

The name of that other Liverpool beat group escapes me, but they too, worked in much the same way: collective cohesion resulting in genius - egos'n'awkward wives (not)withstanding.

I digress.

Lest it be known that if not for Echo and the Bunnymen, there'd be no U2, simply because the Bunnymen were to the '80s (albeit clandestinely), what Nirvana have thus far been to the '90s. Naturally, legions of plaid-clad-Bono-surfin-die-hards will disagree, but at the end of the day, one man's cool is another man's fly.

Surely you capice...

When Liverpool's finest purveyors of miserablist charisma released such glorious epics as ‘The Cutter’ and ‘The Killing Moon,’ they rode the crest of a seemingly untouchable wave. But following the release of 1987's eponymous Echo And The Bunnymen, vocalist McCulloch - he of major lip sensation - quit to pursue a solo career.

The Bunnymen continued, and McCulloch released two solo albums (Candleland and Mysterio), but it wasn't the same. Possibly realizing this, the two have re-grouped and reaffirmed their collective talents by recording Burned - a lean/mean selection of eleven confrontational guitar drenched power swabs of franchise frenzy.

One of the most spitfire, rock records of the year in fact.



So why did you call the album Burned?

McCulloch: When we were setting out thinking of titles, Burned came into the fray and it just seemed perfect.

Sergeant: We were gonna call it "Mirrorball" at one point, which is another track on the album.

There's a great guitar sound throughout Burned, lots of in your face colour.

M: I think Will comes up with the best guitar lines going. It's what's been missing a lot. The only other guitarist who attempts to get more textures and colours and proper riffs is Billy Corgan really. A lot of this post grunge stuff is just so thick and dense, not to mention lacking in tune and expression. Heavy riffs just for the sake of 'em.

Ian, over the last five years, you've said you've unlearned a lot of things. Please elaborate.

M: I unlearned a technique that consisted of a lot of pretentious and wilfully obscure lyrics. There's still bits of that, but I unlearned a technique that had kind of become a trap. Lyrics and the whole presentation of everything y'know. The singing style, image, a lot of it; living in fear of going beyond the confides of what I'd built up for meself.

You're renowned for a certain style though...

M: Yeah, but I think a lot of it's still in there, it's just a bit looser now. A bit freer of me own preconceptions, cause that's the worst trap you can be in when you've got in your head 'I can't do that,' or 'I've got to do it like this.'

You've set that trap, no-one else.

M: That's what I mean. I've freed myself of a lot of baggage I didn't need. Part of the process of the unlearning was the five years off and the two solo records. I'd realized that lyrics were about emotions again, rather than some vague metaphysical shite.

Do you think fate had something to do with bringing you back together?

M: (laughs) Yeah destiny. It was helped along by a few friends.

S: It had a lot to do with my magnet collection...

M: But now we're in the thick of it, it can be quite daunting. If we'd have known back in 1980/81 what we'd have done with the Bunnymen, we'd have freaked coming over here. But we came over and had a play - 'we're the best kind of thing' y'know. So I don't want to be daunted by say American radio 24-hours a day or TV or whatever.

How do you look back on your two solo albums?

M: They're real good songs and lyrically I thought I'd got better than I ever had - which to me is a real important part. I thought some of the tunes were really good, but to me, there was no reason for it - other than me trying to find a direction. What I liked about it was that I laid meself on the line, especially on Candleland - 'this is me exposing meself.'

Talking of exposing oneself, were you a Nirvana fan?

M: What Kurt Cobain was great at was being real. But since then, everyone has taken from him, that blueprint, and it's like 'come on, think of something yourself.' What's so scary now after something so great like Nirvana, is that it's being plagiarised and watered-down. A lot of these people singing in that style seem real middle-class to me...

S: Like that band Bush... well good luck to 'em really... (starts singing) everything zen, everything zen...

Finally, will you be playing any of the old stuff when you play live or is that a daft question?

S: Dunno yet. We're reviewing the search (starts singing)...reviewing the search... reviewing the search.

M: We'll do the ones that fit y'know, and if we wanna play them. I think it'll be good to let the audience know primarily that what they get is what they get and if it includes one of those songs, then that's great. But don't be shouting out for 'em cause it'll be a waste of time.