KID Recordings and acclaimed indie/synth-pop band Burnside Project are excited to announce the Friday, July 28 release of the 20th Anniversary Expanded Edition of the band’s celebrated full-length album, The Networks, The Circuits, The Streams, The Harmonies. Featuring the original album, previously unreleased tracks, remixes and bonus tracks, the 22-song collection is led by “Cue The Pulse To Begin” (2023 Pride Remix), a reimagined take on the band’s breakout single that became a sync powerhouse by appearing in a number of movies and TV shows, most notably as the theme to Showtime’s Queer As Folk which led these quirky artists to become accidental LGBTQ+ cult heroes.
Burnside Project’s Richard Jankovich (also of Big Mother Gig) had the following to share about the album and its reissue: “When I started Burnside Project in late 1999, it was in direct response to all the harder-edged indie rock I had made until that point. I wanted to take a hard turn so I slowed down the tempos, lowered my voice from a shout, learned to program drums, and wrote songs that were less urgent and angry but more introspective and thoughtful. At least that’s what I was trying to do. With ‘Cue The Pulse To Begin’, we didn’t intend to write a song that would find a home within the gay community but we remain so incredibly proud of it. People have it tattooed on their body, coming-out blogs were titled after the song and more. Of the hundreds of songs I’ve written, ‘Cue The Pulse To Begin’ has had the biggest impact in the world. The new PRIDE 2023 remix is here for your listening pleasure – it drops some of the bombast of the original for a more smooth and fluid take.”
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.
The LP received enthusiastic press coverage from SPIN, The FADER and Rolling Stone (Editor’s Choice) and cosigns from tastemakers like filmmaker Cameron Crowe (Almost Famous, Singles), DJ John Richards (KEXP) and novelist Rick Moody (The Ice Storm). Even Pitchfork had to admit the songs were “catchy” and that “you can end up shaking your ass.”
Burnside Projected supported The Networks, The Circuits, The Streams, The Harmonies 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. Today, the idea of combining sparkling indie guitars over synthy ‘80s beats is so common it’s hard to remember this sound was once novel.