Project Mayhem: On ‘What It Is To Burn’, Finch arrived as post-hardcore was exploding in popularity

In the early 2000s, Drive-Thru Records was one of the biggest pop-punk/emo record labels on the planet. Popularizing bands like New Found Glory, Midtown, and even Hellogoodbye, the label sold millions of records, and was a huge catalyst on the explosion of these various scenes for years. While the label hasn’t existed in a long time, Drive-Thru certainly made its mark. And it’s possible that What Is It To Burn, the debut full-length from the also sadly disbanded Finch, might just be the label’s crown jewel release.

Opening track “New Beginnings” really defines what post-hardcore and alt-rock was during this time. Burgeoning bands like Hawthorne Heights, Senses Fail, and Funeral For A Friend were really gaining traction during this time as part of the new wave of post-hardcore, and Finch established themselves as one of the torchbearers of that wave of musicians. What made Finch truly special, especially on their debut record, was the truly great way they wrote songs.

Especially on this record, they had genuine, heartfelt tracks that helped bridge the gap between pop-punk and post-hardcore at the time. Look at the 2nd song, “Letters To You”. It’s a fairly basic love song complete with soaring choruses – and it’s extremely catchy. It’s the same with the subsequent track, “Post Script”. The spectacular thing is the way they combine these structures with the jagged, melodic post-hardcore bands of the past like Quicksand and even Helmet, making for something unique at the time that appealed to many.

This aesthetic and unique style also meshed (and clashed, occasionally) with the more hardcore side of the band. Especially “Project Mayhem”, which featured electronic beats and signatures from producer Mark Trombino, helping flesh out the record a bit more. Featuring Glassjaw vocalist Daryl Palumbo on two tracks here (“Grey Matter” and “Project Mayhem”) helped immensely, but Finch’s better attribute was when they wrote more post-hardcore tracks on this album’s follow-up, Say Hello To Sunshine, where they developed this sound the best. However, this album’s mixture of pop-punk, emo, and heavier post-hardcore proved to be accessible in nature, yet popular to a wide variety of different fanbases. The record was so successful that they landed high slots on Warped Tour, as well as Reading And Leeds Festivals in 2003 (where they were so popular, they were put on the main stage along with Linkin Park and Jay-Z).

Follow-up record Say Hello To Sunshine was equally brilliant (if not even better, considering its expansion on what made their debut great), but admittedly takes a while to really “get”. What Is It To Burn, however, is a very nostalgic album depending on how much you love(d) the new millennium era of post-hardcore and emo. Listen without any pretensions, though, and you’ll find a very good record overall. Full of emotion and delivering a very unique sound, What It Is To Burn deserves even more praise than it already gets. The hype behind this album at the time was very real indeed, and it mostly delivered.