Fuel

Item: Sunburn
Author: Joe Rockstroh

Sunburn

(1999)

Reviewed by Joe Rockstroh

Discogs Apple Music TIDAL Amazon Music Spotify YouTube Music

Label 550 MusicThe Phantom Tollbooth1999

alternative rock post-grunge

With the glut of alternative rock one-hit wonder bands that always seems to be present on the airwaves, Fuel probably isn't a band that stands that far apart from bands like Matchbox 20, Third Eye Blind, Eagle-Eye Cherry, and Eve 6. But if there's one thing that separates Fuel from the rest of the pack, it's that these guys are really, really, good.

Fuel is a major force in a market many consider band-dead, the Pennsylvania-Maryland-Virginia area, having built a large local following and selling more than 10,000 copies of their indie albums. The maturity that the band has gained is significant; sloppy musicianship and songwriting are not a problem on this record. In what is probably the most surprising demonstration of the band's maturity, there is not a single profanity on the album, which is significant when compared to other recent alternative hit bands.

Fuel has also built an interesting, engaging sound during their years of touring and indie release. Chock-full of metallic guitars and riffs, combined with some acoustic parts, steady bass lines, solid drum work, and the slightly snotty punk vocals of Brett Scallions, probably most similar to the lead singer of Bleach, Dave Baysinger. Coupled with the excellent production of Steven Haigler, Fuel's songs have an intensity and intelligence that fully engages the listener's senses.

Fuel does an excellent job of balancing the pop demands of an alternative band with their harder rock sensibilities, though occasionally they slide too far one way on the scale. Songs like the radio hit "Shimmer" probably best exemplify this delicate balance, while songs like "Mary Pretends," an all out rocker with absolutely blistering rock sensibilities coupled with punk aggression and structure, make for an enjoyable slide to the other end of the scale.

Fuel also has some interesting lyrics, which being full of religious touchstones are especially noteworthy for Christians. In the song "Jesus or a Gun," the lead singer wails:

Walk away, I walk the wire
And my fields are burning in the flames
Feel my way, blind in the mire
Struggling from your voice inside my head

But now everything's trying to drag me down
But I'll rip the sky from the ground
But tell me who's my saving one
Jesus or a gun

It's safe to say I don't desire
Everything you push inside my head
And I reject it until I'm dead.

This theme, apparently accepting Jesus as the only way and yet rejecting Him at the same time, is continued in several other songs, such as "Sunburn":

All my friends are searching
Quiet, desperately
Look into their eyes you'll see the faithless crying
Save me, save me, save me.

Then again in the song "New Thing":

I got a new thing, it's so inspired
It's not the real thing, but it's for me
Because the real thing I don't desire
So it's the new thing I choose for me
Denial comfort me.

Fuel does an excellent job with this record, providing a solid debut if ever there was one. There is the occasional bum song on the album, but these are best explained as old songs simply carried over from their indie days. The great sound Fuel has developed, coupled with further maturity and new material, should make for an interesting career for these boys from Pennsylvania.

4.5 tocks