Burgess Shale, "No Rest for the Weary"

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By Roger "Red" Byrne
Freelancers United, Inc.

Adopting a mysterious appellation, especially one with a utterly fascinating origin (look it up yourself), creates a promise of spine-tingling creativity. True enough, the San Francisco unit Burgess Shale (http://www.burgessshale.us) are clearly inspired.

This is art rock with a bubblegum twist as the pop dynamic between singers Heather Hopson and Brian Fraser give the music-theory arrangements an accessibility they otherwise wouldn't have gotten.

Not too long ago, you had to really know how to play instruments to be in a rock group, before everything took a backseat to the visual flash of MTV. The trio of Burgess Shale have impressive skills, carving their tunes into crazy shapes. They're an imaginative bunch, leaving me perplexed as to how to categorize their material.

For all of their musical wizardry, their songwriting is surprisingly grounded in everyday matters, making them appealing to the general public as well as to college professors. Also, if King Crimson had a female vox then they wouldn't have been far removed from Burgess Shale.