t’s strange for a company like Richard Branson’s V2 to not only sign this Philadelphia-based rockin’ trio, but to also re-release their year old album instead of a new record. Fall of the Plastic Empire is by no means a debut record that doesn’t deserve to be heard by a larger audience, but the fact that it was begun in 1999, makes it all seem a little passé. Whatever the reason, it’s here, and ready to be sold to the masses.

With their morbid imagery and frightening name, you’d expect a bunch of church-arsonists, yet, that’s not quite what you have here. Burning Brides are more Nirvana meets Black Sabbath than Emperor meets Morbid Angel. Fall of the Plastic Empire is heavily drenched in Big Muff distortion, tight Number of the Beast tour tees and even tighter bell-bottoms. Originally released on the indie label File-13 way back in 2001, the record strangely fits right along with the recent Queens of the Stone Age (with whom they recently toured with) record, with the fuzzy riffs and desert-loving aura.

While the music at times seems a little too influenced by other bands, it becomes strange to see by just whom it includes as its inspirations. Kyuss, The Stooges, MC5, Black Sabbath, Nirvana, et al are very much alive, but it’s the moments on a track like “Rainy Days”, where singer Dimitri Coats all of a sudden adopts a Davy Jones accent to sing the chorus, that this band proves that they are really messed. The direct message to a former cohort at the beginning of “Stabbed In The Back Of The Heart” is some more proof that they have a sick sense of humor. Amidst the laughing and the threats, Coats makes the message loud and clear that he is not to be fucked with.

The first two tracks on the record are also proof that this trio is not without its pop sensibility. “Plank of Fire” is an in-your-face, Dandy Warhols meets Black Flag, romping stomping sing-a-long. The “non-stop masturbation” bit aside, it’s quite a powerful slab of riffage. “Glass Slipper”, the single from the record, is even more accessible and much faster. Complete with handclaps and ridiculous lyrics, it shows what the new Mudhoney record could have sounded like, if Mudhoney were such an awful abomination.

If the name alone isn’t enough to convince you that this band is good enough to investigate, than it must be the lack of “The” in front. However, don’t hold back, Burning Brides are a good band that should make it safely onto the garage rock bandwagon, even without that magical article before their name.