Boy Sets Fire this crying, this screaming......

Boy Sets Fire 'this crying, this screaming, my voice is being born' (Magic Bullet Records, 1997)

Opening with the emotional, melodic and angry 'Vehicle' (brilliantly covered by Coalesce on their split), Boy Sets Fire's debut EP is an explosion of brilliant, confrontational hardcore. XScottX introduced me to Boy Sets Fire and from the first moment I heard them I loved them. This record, their debut LP 'The Day the Sun Went Out' and the 'In Chrysalis' EP are all unsurpassed classics which wonderfully combine the epic soarings of their emo contemporaries with raging punk and the occasional dose of brutal metal.

Nathan Gray's vocals add heartfelt emotion that only Jon Bunch or Chris Simpson can come close to, despite, or maybe because of their simmering rage. The harmonies and different textures added by Darrell Hyde (bass) and Chad Istvan (guitar) pile on layer upon of layer of raw passion.

'resection' sums up what I have tried to describe in one beautiful package. It's a heartbreakingly good song and the tender vulnerability is almost palpable in the chiming build up which leads to the echoing refrain 'and nothing can ever hurt me again, nothing can hurt me again, the way you did, the way you did'. Brilliant, brilliant stuff.

Unfortunately, I didn't see Boy sets Fire at their peak and caught them at the Cathouse after the initial line up had dissolved as a result of signing to a label distributed by Sony. Nathan was very whiney at the gig and I heckled a little bit and Finchy fell out with me and stood at the other side of the room, much to the amusement of Danny and company. We all made up afterwards though, much like Boy Sets Fire who reformed in 2010 after splitting in 2007.

This EP was re-released by Magic Bullet last year and side two sounds like it had a few mastering issues with 'blame' clicking a little like a stuck CD and 'my own restraints' suffering a dip in volume half way through.

Peace