Critic's Notebook

Various Artists

Burn to Shine is the kind of medium-rare concept you hatch at 4 a.m. with your best friend -- except that Brendan Canty actually has resources and connections. Thus, the former bassist for the seemingly defunct Fugazi has created a video artifact in which eight bands play one song each...
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Burn to Shine is the kind of medium-rare concept you hatch at 4 a.m. with your best friend — except that Brendan Canty actually has resources and connections. Thus, the former bassist for the seemingly defunct Fugazi has created a video artifact in which eight bands play one song each in a condemned Washington, D.C., house, which is then burned to the ground by the local fire squad. Representing the funky D.C.-core bands Fugazi helped inspire are Q and Not U, and Medications, while Canty’s Garland of Hours, and his former bandmate Ian MacKaye’s folksy Evens, point their scene in a more song-based direction. Among the unknowns, French Toast is the revelation, with a synth-driven number that soulfully avoids dance-punk clichés, while kitschy Weird War seems least conscious of being filmed. Between the two solo acts, mod-rocking Ted Leo seems less equipped to take advantage of the setting’s intimacy than Bob Mould, who comes last with a hearty, gorgeous version of Sugar’s “Hoover Dam.” As promised, a conflagration ensues. The accompanying melodramatic piano score is probably meant to evoke profound questions, but serves more as a colorful backdrop to the pertinent question: When is Mould gonna come out with a new album?

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