Melodic Punk Rock Trio Burntmill Ghosts Released New Album “Old Records”

In September 2023, SBAM Records and Double Helix Records released a digital 7″ called Innocence Lost featuring the songs “Maple Place” and “Tulsa Heat” by American punkrock newcomers Burntmill Ghosts. Both songs are featured on Old Records, the full length record (digital and vinyl) that will be released on May 3, 2024 via SBAM and Double Helix. The 10 track album features various punk rock influences, which makes the sound somewhat difficult to define. But however you want to define it, it is clear that the band has a focus on melody giving the listener ample opportunity to sing along.

The album title comes from the band’s tendency to write songs that serve as records of the past, stories of a bygone era. Some of the tracks are based on historical events like the California Gold Rush (“As the Crow Flies”) the Tulsa Massacre (“Tulsa Heat”), Organized Crime (“Fox Lake”) and Indian Removal (“Broken Promises”). Other tunes are influenced by literature. “Paradise”, for example, is a love song based on Dante’s Divine Comedy; “Annabel Lee” serves as a prequel for the Edgar Alan Poe poem of the same name; and “The Body” tells the tale of the Stephen King novella that was the influence for the movie Stand by Me. The Burntmill Ghosts version tells the story from the perspective of the dead body. Other tunes like “Springdale Ave.” and “Maple Place ” are more personal, but they are still steeped in history, a perfect way to close each side of the record.

In 2021, Pete Vincell and Ian Egloff got together to work on some songs they had brewing. Partly out of boredom and partly out of an eagerness to eventually get these tracks into the world, they fine tuned the songs sitting around a fire pit drinking some beers. In an effort to keep the songs fresh, the guys decided to go into the studio with Pete Steinkopf of the Bouncing Souls. They recruited AJ Martinez of Doc Rotten to play drums on the tracks.

After the songs were recorded, the guys had a decision to make. At the time, Pete and Ian were members of The Fullers who had released the album Cheers in April 2020 via SBAM Records and ProRawk Records. But just like every band in the world, The Fullers didn’t have the opportunity to the play any live shows in support of the new album. To compliment matters more, the drummer and guitarist had recently moved a few states away. As a result, Ian and Pete then had to decide if they were going to continue as The Fullers or start anew. So they reached out to Stefan Beham of SBAM Records to gather some insight. Beham was completely supportive of the idea of renaming the band and starting fresh, so that’s exactly what they did. SBAM quickly whipped up a logo and sent it right over.

Once Justin Rodrigues joined the group on drums, the full time lineup was complete and the band started to play live shows in March 2022. Since then, they have shared the stage with The Bombpops, The Rumjacks, War on Women, Catbite, Crazy & the Brains, and Mikey Erg to name a few.

The band went back into the studio with Steinkopf in the summer of 2022 and March of 2023 to record more songs with Rodrigues on drums. In September 2023, SBAM Records and Double Helix Records released a digital 7″ called Innocence Lost featuring the songs “Maple Place” and “Tulsa Heat”. Both songs are featured on Old Records, the full length record (digital and vinyl) that will be released on May 3, 2024 via SBAM and Double Helix. The 10 track album features various punk rock influences, which makes the sound somewhat difficult to define. But however you want to define it, it is clear that the band has a focus on melody giving the listener ample opportunity to sing along.