Jared Burton
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Jared Burton

Pasadena, California, United States

Pasadena, California, United States
Band Folk Singer/Songwriter

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"Amerikana EP Review"

There’s an unusual place between soft, willowy idealism and overly scarred scorn that Jared Burton navigates precariously across Amerikana. It’s such a temptation to feed into the fodder of those optimistic/pessimistic outlooks that too often we forget about the territory not divided by such hard lines. The songs of Burton’s debut EP were written during the first half of the last decade, a stormy time for a country witnessing a societal tear that went as deep as anything since the shameful blemish of segregation. But Burton makes no plays for the right or the left, nor does he covet some comfortable safe haven among the moderates that would have made him neither loved nor hated by those who define themselves so stridently in specifics fed to them by outsiders, both “allies” and “enemies.” That Amerikana carries the weight of universal crisis might make the skeptical ready to lambaste him as vanilla when they wanted talking points and poisonous diatribes, but this isn’t the sound of a man who can’t make up his mind, can’t come to terms with the external struggle, or just wants everyone to get along. Being a frontline correspondent won’t do—he has a critical eye and a forgiving hand.

Burton shares with us the usual gripes about the state of politics, the fallout of war, global epidemics and other hot button issues, but he delivers them with an elegant grace when useful and with tongue ‘twixt tooth when severity won’t serve. He has a way of speaking direct without succumbing too often to clichés and boilerplate messages. Instead of simply spouting anti-war agendas and cutting a few fingers (or wrist entire) about gluts of hypocrisy on all fronts, he teases at the messages without being elliptical—“We’re a self-inflicted video nation trying to live the American Dream. We’ll kill the world while we’re sleeping at expense of what it really needs.”

As it is with virtually every folk rocker since the 60s, you can hear Bob Dylan (the early troubadour persona) in “No More Evolution,” though its wry take on a culture of evolutionary stasis certainly plays to Dylan’s more sardonic side. Burton has a smoother octave range, though, so it’s presented almost mournful rather than bilious, and offers the amusing observation, “They all want clean boxes/When they’re buried in the ground/Don’t want to be touched by anything/But always be found.” Later, on “Paradox,” he sings about the absurd contradictions of war; though references to A-10 Thunderbolts and Pat Tillman paint a modern reference, its implication is timeless. “Uncomfortably Numb,” meanwhile, speaks on vaguer terms to address a growing concern of both apathy and helplessness—in most cases, such elusiveness would have described its meaning as unspecific, even meandering, but when dealing with numbness, “hands tied behind [the] back” and “feet buried in the ground” are more effective than sharp bon mots in describing its hazy weight only felt through careful observation—hell, it’s easy to miss the feeling altogether when life seems to spin so heedlessly fast.

Burton breaks from the folksy tradition in the second half by embracing a more varied palette. “Dirge for 33” has the most low-key arrangement on the entire disc, ebbing moodily barely above the whisper of its gently twanging semi-blues chords. Surprisingly then, “33” is probably the most caustic number, with Burton even going so far as saying, “Bring down the new Babylon,” during the chorus. By rambling roughshod over the barely discerned meter, Burton’s voice is indeed powerful, but the subtle musical accompaniment is deserving of a more restrained voice of disdain (or, in terms with its harder edge, at least one more cunning). The fact that the words pour out with the recklessness of stream-of-conscious accusations makes the song sound even looser. On the other hand, the title track sounds like a slice of Mellencamp Heartland rock, boisterous and brash without falling prey to the vice of trading intelligence for muscle and empty hooks. The final track, a live version of “Amerikana” from 2001 transferred from a VHS tape (how 20th century of him), is raucous and rollicking, transforming it into a snarling anthem. Anyone who might have found Burton too mellow in his musings before should find this thunder righteous; luckily, it doesn’t feel like pandering, but rather a snatch of passion renovated via the heat of an animated live atmosphere.

While Burton’s broad outlook is nothing terribly original or revelatory, the way he speaks of his social obsessions is refreshing, neither painfully obvious nor stricken by inscrutability. The intimacy of his acoustic-guitar-and-vocals spareness is always dangerous territory to tread upon—so many of its kind are so lacking in memorable melodies and overwhelmed by trite aphorisms that the precious few that succeed come across as miraculous. And because Burton avoids obvious details and so rarely answers his own questions, we’re left with songs that have a light firmament of inquiring observation melded into the gravity of focused viewpoint. You know—that uncomfortable grey area we sometimes wish the media gave us when talking heads spewing propaganda get the better ratings. But Burton is no newscaster; he’s just a worthy musician trying to make sense of these trying times in Amerika.

Read more: http://www.justpressplay.net/music-reviews/38-reviews/6299-amerika-ep.html#ixzz0lcRLv5c1
- Just Press Play by Matt Medlock


Discography

Amerikana (A solo EP featuring Jared Burton on Guitar and Vocals)

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Bio

We've been playing music together on and off for several years and all have had our other projects as well. Our sound is most likely influenced by our desire to explore unique territory in a folksy sort of pop-like fashion. We don't adhere to any particular genre and don't talk about how we want the band to sound. We just talk about whether we like the songs or not and how the structures should be to keep it interesting. We probably don't even know who each others' favorite artists are. We like playing music together though!