www.myspace.com/mathiaskom

weewerk release 015: Happy Birthday

Taking its name from a religious tract, The Burning Hell has been slithering around in the muck in one form or another since the dawn of the millennium. Fronted by the moderately agoraphobic songwriter and occasional history teacher Mathias Kom on electric ukulele, The Burning Hell currently features between one and twelve people, depending on the night.

This cast of characters gathered at The House Of Miracles in the depths of summer 2007 to record 'Happy Birthday', an album that celebrates the beauty of age, the joys of decay, the possibility of dating after death, and the inevitable repetition of mistakes. Combining quirky instrumentation, happy little melodies and depressing Old World fatalism, the music of The Burning Hell is sure to make you smile and want to give up.

Possible Influences: Smog, Jonathan Richman, Stephin Merritt (Magnetic Fields), Handsome Family, David Byrne

The Burning Hell are

Mathias Kom : guitar, ukulele, vocals
Jill Staveley : guitar, vocals
Charlie Glasspool : piano
Mike Duguay : synths, glockenspiel, melodica
Jenny Gleeson : accordion, bass
Darcy McCord : cello
Adam DeMarsh : drums
Steve McNabb : trumpet, banjolele
Nick Ferrio : lap steel
Jenny Mitchell : backing vocals
Mary Jane McCallum : backing vocals
Andy Magoffin : engineering, backing vocals

(weewerk): "I picked my jaw and ears up off the floor after listening to the "Happy Birthday" demo then immediately offered to sign him."


The Whitehorse STAR - March 14, 2008 - "The Burning Hell may just be the hottest thing to hit the Yukon so far this year. Taking its name from a religious tract, it is an indie folk rock band from Peterborough, Ont." - Andrew Hoshkiw (full article)


ECHO Weekly COVER STORY - January 10 - 16, 2008 - "Much like the albums that Johnny Cash made toward the end of his life, Happy Birthday is the aural equivalent to the denouement that follows a calamitous party; the dust has settled, moods have tempered and Mathias Kom has sat down to offer up some music that'll smooth the last rough edges and raw nerves. Over spare instrumentation (acoustic guitar and ukulele are the constants, but mandolin, lap steel, drums, cello and keys occasionally poke through), Kom half- speaks his twisted, sardonic tales of love, woe and late nights with such a deadpan delivery as to be comical in its own way. As could be expected of a record that makes the most of such faux dour beginnings, Happy Birthday inevitably picks up steam as it goes - adding more instrumentation and slightly quicker tempos, but also getting funnier at the same time." - Bill Adams (link to article)


"To the list of great albums, I'd add The Burning Hell's Tick Tock. Led by Mathias Kom, the band is a strange mix of gospel ("It Happens In Florida"), folk-ish rock ("Bretton Woods"), gorgeous country (most notably on "All The Stars And Parking Lots", where his rumbling bass vocals are offset beautifully by Jill Staveley's deadpanned, Emmylou Harris-esque voice) and...well, whatever you'd call all that mixed with ukelele ("99 Months"). It's certainly like very little else out there, and it's easy to see why weewerk loved Kom and his band enough to sign them and release their new album early in 2008. When that one comes out, the expectations created by Tick Tock guarantee that it'll get thrown on my stereo/iPod right away." - iheartmusic
(link to article)


"...I was instantly caught off guard by the album's quirky charm. Kom's deadpan baritone draws immediate attention to the black comedy behind his lyrics ("We'll never get married/ I'm dating your sister/ and everything you believe is a lie") and the ukulele doesn't play nearly as much of a pivotal role as I'd expected. Often accompanied by drums, strings or left-field instruments like accordion, melodica and glockenspiel, and featuring complementary backing vocals and duets, I actually forgot the "ukulele sensation" prefix as I listened to Happy Birthday and instead just enjoyed it as a charming folk album.

Songs like "Dinosaurs" and the ridiculous zombie-romp, "Grave Situation Pt.1," for instance, are undeniably fun and witty, and the album's closer, the appropriately titled "Goodbye Ukulele," is an endearing crescendo reminiscent of a child kissing each of his stuffed animals goodnight before going to bed (come on, we all did it...)."
- Wolves, Hawks & Kites (link to article)