“Ancient Artifact” takes on a profound significance as it features Burnside Project’s Paul Searing on a powerful lead vocal in the chorus. Tragically, Searing passed away unexpectedly shortly before Christmas of 2023. This marks his final recorded performance, a lasting testament to his talent. His artistic vision is further immortalized on the single cover which features his original photography and design. The remaining members took some time to reflect and, with the blessing of Searing’s family and friends, decided to move ahead with the release as a tribute to his memory. Watch the music video for “Ancient Artifact,” which features footage recorded live at Astro Hall in Tokyo, Japan on March 9, 2004 on YouTube HERE, and stream the song on all platforms HERE.
When the trio of Searing, Richard Jankovich and Gerald Hammil reconvened to plan the 20th anniversary release of their Bar-None/Sony release The Networks, The Circuits, The Streams, The Harmonies, they were hoping there’d be an opportunity to release a new song at some point. While unearthing unreleased tracks and demos for the expanded reissue, they discovered remnants of a song written in 2003 called “Ancient Artifact.” They kept a few instrumental hooks and a killer chorus and wrote a brand new song, finally finishing in the fall of 2023. Burnside Project were joined by drummer Michael Lerner (The Antlers) and vocalist/bassist Anna Bohichik who made up the backbone of Burnside Project from 2005 to 2006.
Rewind back to 2002, before bands like The Postal Service, Cut Copy and LCD Soundsystem normalized indie guitars over electronic beats. A few recent NYC transplants turned in an album to indie stalwart Bar/None Records. The album adventurously combined Pavement-influenced songwriting, indie guitar riffs, breakbeat electronica, ‘80s synth lines, ‘90s house beats and more. The band was Burnside Project and the album was 2003’s The Networks, The Circuits, The Streams, The Harmonies. Originally a duo of multi-instrumentalists (Richard Jankovich and Gerald Hammill), the group expanded to a trio with the addition of Paul Searing when this album was released.
Burnside Project supported the album with live dates alongside both critically acclaimed artists and newer buzz bands like The Notwist, Styrofoam, Death from Above 1979, HOME, Antietam and even ‘80s new wave icons Modern English. A year later the band signed to Sony and went on a sold-out tour of Japan where “Cue The Pulse To Begin” went Top 30. They dropped another album in 2005 but by 2006, unable to translate their critical support into a sustainable career, they broke up. The concept of “indie synth-pop” became codified by the late 2000s with artists like MGMT, Passion Pit, Empire Of The Sun and more.
Featuring the original album, previously unreleased tracks, remixes and bonus tracks, the brand new 22-track version of The Networks, The Circuits, The Streams, The Harmonies includes a cover of Electronic’s 1990 hit “Getting Away With It” featuring genre-hopping Brooklynite duo Sunrise HWY (aka Amy Douglas and Tim Wagner), “He Never Knew The Benefits Of Caffeine (Sack International Remix),” and a remix of the band’s breakout single “Cue The Pulse To Begin,” the theme to Showtime’s Queer as Folk and a song that led these quirky artists to become accidental LGBTQ+ cult faves.
SOURCE: Official Bio
LINKS:
https://burnsidemusic.com/
https://www.instagram.com/burnsideproject/
https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100063854865865
https://open.spotify.com/artist/4RD9Q8qVEGyjAFzojb4BjW