BURNING FICTION are:
Matt - Vocals | Paul - Bass | Bruce - Drums | Josh - Guitar | Pete - Guitar

RELEASES:

COMPILATIONS:
Get The Fuckin Out! (Fast Circle Records)

OFFICIAL WEBSITE:
myspace.com

MEDIA:
High Res CD Cover Art | High Res Band Logo | FREE MP3

REVIEWS:
ThePunkSite.com [USA]
BURNING FICTION / JET MARKET / PART TIME KILLER Split CD
Pee Records has made quite a name for itself for a minor independent label based out of Australia. Mostly known for bands featuring an authentic blend of hardcore and punk, the label also houses some notable melodic talent – but these group’s are often overshadowed; or at least until now. In a move that will undoubtedly promote their growing identity, the label has released a three way split featuring the melodic skate-punk styling of long time resident Burning Fiction, and newcomers Jet Market and PartTime Killer. The result is a twelve track disc serving up enough melodic fury to turn the heads of anyone who thought they knew what Pee Records was about.
Burning Fiction kicks things into high gear early on, flashing their metal-guided chords with furious fingers that would make Strung Out proud. Ever since first reviewing their breakout disc, Do Not Touch, the band’s combination of technicality, speed, and backing harmonies made them quick to stand out as my personal favourite on the label’s growing roster. These four tracks make good on their promise, measuring up to their already high standard. Highlights include the layers upon layers of gang sections, escalation, and the extra guitar flare of “In All Our Glory.” The fantastically entertaining bridge in “The Grip” even goes as far as to feature a very non-gimmicky electric violin (making for a pleasantly unexpected Zox comparison).
Burning Fiction’s rock solid skate punk makes for a tough act to follow, but Jet Market clearly meets the challenge. While Burning Fiction centres around technicality, Jet Market lives for speed. These tracks speed along as quick as they come without flying off their rails. The band defines itself with a set of deeper – and certainly sloppier – vocals, and a ton of shouty, gang vocals circa Four Year Strong. “Tonight Tonight” captures the band in their element as they pour their hearts out, speedily dropping lyrics as if racing against the clock. All four tracks hold up well, despite each track feeling decidedly less distinct than those of Burning Fiction.
And then there’s the black sheep of the family, PartTime Killer. Whereas Jet Market and Burning Fiction boasted a tough underlying edge, Part Time Killer kicks up their feet and winds the party down with a stress-free vibe. Sounding as if originating from central Europe (Finland to be exact), the three-piece exists somewhere between the barebones pop punk of Bankrupt and the sloppy slurs of Millencolin’s accented voices. Oddly enough, from a lyrical standpoint Part Time Killer stands tallest of the bunch. They’re not particularly profound, but they’re direct, catchy, and at their heart, insightful. Take “Thank You” for instance. Vocalist Alex Aaltola yelps “Thank you for the pain/Thank you for the chains/Thank you for the wasted years I’ll never be the same” as he jokingly embraces the ride while watching the world crumbling around him. Likewise, the juxtaposed grim lyrics and joyous attitude of “Wake Up” make for a lively affair.
You won’t find much to complain about on this three way split. While I’m still partial to Burning Fiction, each player pulls their weight just fine, standing apart from the last. I hope those who might have already dismissed Pee Records as a hardcore label will take note of this three way split and at least give it a listen – they might just be surprised.
Rating: 4/5
Review by: Cole Faulkner

Evilneedles.com [USA]
BURNING FICTION - Don't Lose Touch
Defying trends has always been an admirable quality in punk rock. However, there is something to be said for keeping with the times. Australia's Burning Fiction does a great job of avoiding dated, trendy cliches while maintaining a lively and up to date sound. There's no mistaking the A Wilhelm Scream and Bad Religion influences, but the band injects just the right amount of original melody and lyrics to make it their own. The production really shines through on this album as they took a clean, but not polish approach. Had they gone any more low-fi or increased the compression on the vocals it could have been a disaster, but the end result is outstanding.

AMP Magazine #40 [USA]
BURNING FICTION - Don't Lose Touch
These skate punk rockers from Down Under deliver memorable 90's style punk rock on their latest offering Don't Lose Touch. Comparisons to U.S. contemporaries A Wilhelm Scream can immediately be drawn but the aggresive vocals give the record plenty of hardcore flare. If you're a fan of riffy melodic guitar leads and speedy kick and snare this record is definitely worth a spin. As a kid who grew up on Thrasher skate videos, it definitely speaks to my roots.
Review by: JK

World's Appreciated Kitsch [Greece]
BURNING FICTION - Don't Lose Touch
Burning Fiction come from Perth, West Coast Australia and this is their 2nd full length album, following the self-released debut one called 'Material' (2007).
The band is strongly influenced by the So-Cal scene, the Fat Wreck / early Epitaph back catalogue and acts like Lagwagon, No Use For A Name, Strung Out and NOFX.
As you can figure out, there's nothing groundbreaking or unique but just in your face melodic punk rock music, including some technical riffs and a huge rhythm section, plus very nice clean vocals and sing-along backups.
Burning Fiction are surely in it for the fun and the pleasure of playing music and they seem dedicated enough. They lyrics are interesting and thought-provoking, too.
If you dig this style of music, grab your skateboard and go shred some concrete while listening to 'Don't Lose Touch'. Labels like Pee Records puts Australian punk rock / hardcore music back in the map. Word.

ThePunkSite [USA]
BURNING FICTION - Don't Lose Touch
Australia’s Burning Fiction is the type of band I love running across at least a couple times a year. The group is a relatively new bare-bones punk rock upstart content to meaningfully contribute to a very well established and tight knit genre. In other words, the five-piece is clearly not in it to be the next big punk innovation, but rather to help respect and celebrate the legacy that became known as the distinct 90’s “Epi-Fat” sound.
At its core, the band sounds precisely like what you would expect a group who cites Lagwagon, No Use For A Name, Strung Out, and A Wilhelm Scream as their favourite artists, to end up like. Vocalist Matty B. channels a distinct high-pitched Joey Cape/Tony Sly style that easily captures the sloppy and playful execution of their source material. The first two tracks, “Ode” and “Die Trying” ease the listener in with some fairly straightforward Lagwagon inspired melodies. Complete with blistering drumbeats and melodic guitar work, these tracks feel more like Lagwagon than anything Lagwagon has released over the past ten years.
Then “Walk Hard” starts and a sudden barrage of ambitious metal guitar work explodes forth. Here a definite Strung Out influence immediately takes hold of guitarists Piper and Pete, as they create a multilayered, aggressive soundscape. The technique hits its pinnacle four songs later with “The Enlistment,” where guitar solos run rampant and technical ambition unfolds. To up the ante and further feed the fury Matty suddenly explodes into raw, throaty, A Wilhelm Scream-like cry. Despite wearing all of their influences on their sleeves, when Burning Fiction puts them together, they sound fresh and alive, and distinctly their own – imitation may be flattery, but amalgamation just outright sounds good.
Lyrically, they’re right up there with their influences as well. Most tracks are introspective and politically charged. “With The Grain,” an obvious play off of the Bad Religion track titled oppositely, speaks of the consequences of conformity, and many others, like “Paper Scissors,” act as a call to moral arms and conscious - strong messages with a strong delivery.
I suppose some may argue that Don’t Lose Touch trumpets a past sound, but personally I feel that there is always room for a skillful revisiting of past trends, making Burning Fiction an easy recommendation for those who enjoy revisiting that fast, aggressive 90’s Epi-Fat sound.
Rating: 4/5
Review by: Cole Faulkner

PEE #45
BURNING FICTION - Don't Lose Touch
WA outfit Burning Fiction has delivered a rad debut album of melodic punk with “Don’t Lose Touch”, 11 tracks that will appeal to fans of 88 Fingers Louie, Strung Out, 1208 and Osker’s first record. Opening track “Ode” is a good introduction to Burning Fiction but follow-up tune “Die Trying” is my pick of the album and it’s a bloody ripper. The band mixes melodic vocals with more aggressive vocals and gang back-ups really well throughout, while the music is more interesting than a lot of current punk bands in Australia. The more melodic “Last To Leave” is a highlight as is the blistering “The Enlistment”. The more I listened, the more I couldn’t help but feel Burning Fiction is following in the footsteps of awesome but defunct Sydney band Dime A Dozen with “Don’t Lose Touch”. Anyone who caught that band live knows that’s no small compliment. For fans of late 90s melodic punk like the bands mentioned above, I can’t recommend “Don’t Lose Touch” enough.
Rating: 93
Review by: No Show

PEE #45
BURNING FICTION - Don't Lose Touch
Takes me a while to review CDs such as this one. Love the old school melodic Fat Wreck Lagwagon No Use... etc sound. Top it off with gang vocals just for extra flavoring. A young 5 piece unit from Perth. Not sure why the insert looks like something a black metal band would have in their lyrics sheets as a back ground. Either way it works for me. Cool logo on the front of the disc too. Not sure who the artist is but two thumbs up from me. See I’m having trouble trying to make this a good review but cant get it out. If you like fast skate punk shit with a modern twist then look this shit up. In going, I would like to say also that track 4 “Last to Leave” the intro reminded me a whole lot of an older Screw 32 track. I think off their first album. Which further supports my claim these guys are keeping that 90s SoCal sound alive half way across the world. Cool Shit...
Rating: 85
Review by: Othmer

Razorcake [USA]
BURNING FICTION - Don't Lose Touch
Perth, Australia’s answer to Pennywise, Burning Fiction plays bland, but listenable melodic hardcore with a little less melody and a little more hardcore. This is an appropriately slick, but not overproduced album that couldn’t hurt a fly. Some of the songs have a few too many breakdowns to take seriously, but populist, earnest, accessible punk will always have its place in the hearts, minds, and high school lockers of youth worldwide. Plus they’re on Pee Records, a label name that I can’t say out loud without cracking up.
Review by: Art Ettinger

Decoy Music [USA]
BURNING FICTION - Don't Lose Touch
For a while I was really hoping for a new, modern wave of melodic punk in the vein of Pennywise and Strung Out to take over as the popular "scene" genre. As we saw the meteoric rise of A Wilhelm Scream, a band that had more than just a little bit of an influence from the aforementioned two bands, I thought they'd lead the tidal wave of new, similar bands. However, there weren’t really any other bands that stepped up their game like A Wilhelm Scream did. Instead we had some of the original pioneers come back to give us new albums which, let's be honest, didn't really take hold with the younger crowd. Recent efforts from Propahandhi and Pennywise just didn’t have the same magic that previous albums did. It seemed like there would be no next wave… until you look outside the borders of the United States.
Australia, in recent years, has been a nice little hotbed for punk and hardcore, as well as many other genres of music. Perhaps being on an isolated continent has kept them insulated from the overflow of horrible trends that are overtaking the US and European musical landscapes. Burning Fiction, hailing from the land down under, have not only created an album that pays homage to their influences, but have had a chance to venture out of their home country to play with the likes of Strung Out, A Wilhelm Scream, Lagwagon, and No Use for a Name. Don’t Lose Touch contains pieces of all of these bands, as well as some early era AFI thrown in for good measure.
The previous sentence easily sums up this release, and the vast majority of melodic punk fans now know exactly what to expect. This is both, unfortunately, a blessing and a curse. You know exactly what to expect, yet you may experience something of a mild letdown since this is ground which has already been well tread upon. Looking beyond this fact, though, Burning Fiction are a solid band and the collection of songs on Don’t Lose Touch will be enough to hold the attention of a listener for the half hour run time of the album, if for no other reason than to hear the traces of Davey Havok’s vocal approach in a few of the songs and to listen to the promise that the band exudes every minute of this album.
Burning Fiction seem to love what they are doing and that will, in the end, provide them with a much longer and fulfilling career than any number of myspace friends or appearances in scene ‘zines ever will. They aren’t afraid to let their influences show, they play hard & fast, and they will give you enough moments to sing along to. Really, what more can you ask for?
3/5
Review by: Rick Gebhardt

Lots Wife - Monash University Magazine
BURNING FICTION - Don't Lose Touch
Opening in a sea of distortion and featuring a sound bite from the movie Donnie Darko, Burning Fiction’s Pee Records debut Don’t Lose Touch is a quality ride from start to finish. While high on speed and blazing guitar riffage, the band also manages to throw a fair bit of melody into the blend that should please fans of bands like Rise Against.
Burning Fiction’s sound is highly reminiscent of bands like Strung Out and A Wilhelm Scream, blending high speed punk beats with metal-influenced guitar riffage. However, at times the band also manages to channel a sound highly reminiscent of Art of Drowning era AFI, which supplements their style nicely. Overall the instrumentation on this release is enjoyable simply because it is both technical and tight, qualities which do not always work well in tandem with one another in the punk scene.
Highlights of Don’t Lose Touch include opener Ode, and the two mid-order tracks Two Finger Diet and Paper Scissors. While all of Burning Fiction’s songs appear to be played at hyper speed, these are coincidently the fastest of the lot. This band really just thrives when it is charging at full speed where their musical proficiency can be best brought to the fore.
Overall, Don’t Lose Touch is a very excellent debut from this Perth quintet. With the album clocking in at just under half an hour, they definitely lend credence to the age old saying, “quality is better than quantity”.
Review by: Matthew Woodward

AsIce E-zine [Netherlands]
BURNING FICTION - Don't Lose Touch
Besides the amazing and underrated A Death In The Family, I am completely oblivious to the quantity and quality of Australian punk rock. These guys, from the isolated city of Perth in Western Australia, must love the mid to late nineties Fat Wreck sound because this record is full-blown tribute to that era. No Use For A Name, Lagwagon and Strungout and bands like that. Whereas their European counterparts mostly end up having some douchebag singing with a wimpy voice, Burning Fiction has the luxury of having Matt, a great and convincing singer who writes some great lyrics. Musically, it’s a trip down memory lane for a lot of us. Seriously. Fast, melodic punk rock. Didn’t we all grow up on that?
4 / 5
Review by: xbootsmanx

Metior - Issue 5
BURNING FICTION - Don't Lose Touch
Bands in Perth coming from the hardcore/punk genre have a tendency to walk a straight path which doesn't display the same creativity and range that their peers in other genres have in forming Perth's reputation in the music industry. Local melodic punk rockers Burning Fiction appear to drink from the same water as Perth's much celebrated indie rockers in that they write songs that showcase diversity and creativity - possibly all of it that you could fit into the melodic punk sub genre. The five-piece's debut album, Don't Lose Touch, sees the bring out a full course of pop-punk to hardcore breakdowns to fuzzy palm-muted riffery to shout-alongs and it's surprising at how well it all goes.
Each track is a new subject in the ongoing tutorial on the spectrum of sounds that can emanate from an electric guitar, taught by guitarists Josh and Pete, with traditional melodic punk power chords alternating with buzzsaw heaviness and clean operatic licks. The vocal elements also adjust with this diversity, with Matt's melodic vocals venturing into some hardcore-style yells as well as some tracks employing a dual vocal assault featuring Matt's vocals splitting time with the abrasive roar of a counterpart or a fellow sweet-singer of different pitch. Although "Die Trying" attempts a powerful cry in the style of Zoli from Ignite that pushes his voice's limit, the lyrics are mature, well-written and on interesting subject matter. The highlight track for me was "Walk Hard", particularly the gang-vocal breakdown in the latter stages.
Burning Fiction have created a diverse melodic punk album which seems to stem directly from the full range of influences you hear in their tracks. Their future could lie in harnessing their own sound out of their repertoire of styles, but by no means was this too diverse. I definitely recommend this album.
Review by: Nathan Verney

Lights Go Out Zine #6 [UK]
BURNING FICTION - Don't Lose Touch
I’m getting a bit bored of this now, not Burning Fiction, more the fact that Pee Records keep finding these amazing punk rocks and putting their albums out. Burning Fiction are quite simply awesome, it has to be said. Definitely a huge nod to what used to be a typical Fat Wreck sounds with bands like Strung Out and No Use For A Name, but their sound has taken skate punk and evolved it, making it relevant for today. From opening track “Ode” the pace is blistering and they don’t really look back. There’s not a duff tune amongst the 11 on offer here. Seriously, this is a pretty darn sweet album, if you’re into your melodic skate punk then this is without a doubt something you should be checking out. Order it online from Pee Records, it’s got more punches than a Lennox Lewis fight.
Review by: Mr. T

Ox-Fanzine #85 [Germany]
BURNING FICTION - Don't Lose Touch
This five-piece from Perth Australia consists of former ska-punk and hardcore band members. Fortunaltely you notice the ska influences of BURNING FICTION only incidentally. Here we have some pretty cool melodic punkrock with an awesome HC touch, how it reminds of bands like LAGWAGON, PROPAGANDHI or A WILHELM SCREAM. Even the real big moments left on this debut: everybody who love the mentioned bands should like BURNING FICTION.
7/10
Review by: Tim Masson

DisAgreement Online [Luxemburg]
BURNING FICTION - Don't Lose Touch
The five members of Burning Fiction all are from the Australian city Perth and gained experience in hardcore and ska bands in the past. Their new band was founded in 2005. Wanting to liberate themselves from their past, they decided to play from now on melodic punk rock, which doesn’t work not bad at all in their case. After an EP in 2007, Don’t Lose Touch is the band’s first longplayer.
Burning Fiction quote No Use For A Name and Lagwagon as their major influences, and I have to admit that the album opener Ode reminds instantly of the glory days during the mid-Nineties of that genre. This is a nice and catchy indie punk rock song that thanks to distorted guitars never sounds too tame. Especially the vocals, drawing sometimes parallels to Bad Religion’s Greg Graffin, are one of the band’s strengths. Burning Fiction are always best on their melodic tracks, with How Many Times being able to stand out from the rest. Some songs have turned out a little more commercial, which doesn’t disturb neither on the accessible Last To Leave nor on the record concluding Sense Of Worth. More heaviness can be heard on Walk Hard with discreet screamo parts. No matter if the band plays more relaxed or harder, their songs are always quite short and straight to the point.
You may only criticise the lack of own ideas and the possibly outdated status of their chosen genre, but the band’s unmistakeable enthusiasm lets you close your eyes to that fact, instead forces you to open your ears that much wider. Fans of melodic punk rock will get with Don’t Lose Touch the ideal soundtrack for the summer.