Brave Face – Chinese Burns Unit with Sly Faulkner (Buttercup Records)
With a band history going back a decade-and-a-half, you’d assume Sydney punks Chinese Burns Unit have done it all. Nuh-huh. Not until they’d recorded with Sly Faulkner, ex of The Splatterheads, Red Planet Rockets and Powerline Sneakers. The idea dates back to pre-COVID so it’s taken a while to come to fruition. How goes the adage? Good things come to those who wait.
To the A side and “Brave Face” flows like fine goon wine. Engine room members Jay Whalley and John Irish lock in for the ride of their lives. Faulkner’s impassioned vocal and some melodic back-ups contrast with potent lyrics about betrayal. Duelling guitars from Glenno and Jenny T are the jam on top of the cream bun.
“Clover” barrels along with a similar irresistible momentum. It's an intense minute-and-a-half outburst, brimming with anger and energy. More spicy guitars that you can poke a chopstick at (despite the fact that nobody in CBU is Chinese) and a dash of melody.
Flip it and you’ll find a cover of a fey Bronski Beat song that makes the original even more redundant that you might have thought. There are no ironic taes, programmed synths or falsetto vocals on this “Smalltown Boy”, just some middle-aged punks who sound like they're digging it a new grave.
Did we say that Glenno did the aertwork or that the vinyl single comes with a download code?
