Recent articles:

From Chilly Vibes to Upbeat Hooks Detroit Free Press (October 27, 2002)

Review: I'm a No One Metro Times (October 16, 2002)

Record Time with Ethos Real Detroit (October 9, 2002) 

Review: I'm a No One Real Detroit (Sept. 18, 2002)

the pathos of ethos, Bliss pop melodies that matter Metro Times (June 12, 2002)
ethos, Wherever You Are Real Detroit
esthetics of ETHOS Real Detroit

From Chilly Vibes to Upbeat Hooks

Brian McCollum Detroit Free Press 

With a penchant for song titles like "This Head is Haunted" and "The Bad Day," songwriter Christian Burke may seem intent on presenting himself like a sad sack. But don't be fooled: Burke's band isn't mottled with mope. On its third release, Ethos shakes off the Smiths comparisons that have dogged the band to put together one of the most pleasant local surprises of the year.

That's not to say melancholy doesn't lurk around the edges, even managing to slink its way to the front. It's apparent in the chilly vibe of "The Bad Day," first of seven tracks, as icy sheets of sound drift past each other. And Burke's head may well be haunted -- his words swing from fragile to despondent.

But Burke and his fellow players (guitarist Brian Comstock, bassist Kevin Stripling, drummer Eric Mikich and percussionist Tony Dushaj) subvert it all with a keen sense of humor, of both the lyrical and musical variety. Even "where the words are sung to save my life," as Burke puts it at one point, a salvo of ebullient hooks keeps things shimmering and upbeat. "Where'd Ya Learn to Talk" is a crafty chunk of pop that justifies the Beatles reference on the album's cover; "Me & You" is the sort of brisk romp where a creepy slide guitar can peacefully coexist with a playful "la-da-da-da" vocal scat.

ethos, I'm a No One

Brian Smith, Metro Times

Once you get used to Ethos singer Christian Burke’s velvet-lined cavern of a voice, you suddenly realize that you’re listening to a male singer who isn’t some Yankee macho miserygut; rather, he’s unafraid to mix bewilderment, mama’s-boy tendencies and melody schooled on Morrissey and Britpop (all of which would, in nearly every instance, make for some of the most drizzlingly average music ever created). But don’t hold that against Burke or the five-piece band, ’cause I’m a No One is a record worth owning.

The bottom line is the songs are both simple and baffling. "Where’d Ya" is the record’s best, a muscular big-guitar glam stomp, complete with garage-y "oh-oh" harmonies, handclaps and a chorus that leads with "Where did ya learn to talk so much" about a quixotic love gone astray over verbosity.

Forget the circa ’97 Britpop references that have saddled Ethos; here’s a band writing good songs. Which, these days, doesn’t really mean all that much.

Record Time with Ethos

Shannon McCarthy, Real Detroit

While ethos may seem to have a strictly British appeal, singer Christian Burke isn't exclusively into emulating the melancholy of The Smiths. His band's lastest album, I'm a No One, may sway with ethereal glow, but it also ravishes with an overall grandiose pop flourish that gets you thinking. Burke sat down to discuss the different kind of music he listens to when he's got friends over, and when he's in a good or bad mood. Though he swears he never gets depressed...

ENTERTAINING AT HOME

I don't think I own any music that can get me motivated -- pretty much the opposite.  If I put something on and there's friends over and we're getting ready to go out into the night, I hold up the fun times because I feel it necessary to discuss the greatness of every song w'ere listening to.  Keep in mind we've probably had a few drinks at this point... People have been known to get irate.  Seems like I don't get that much company anymore...

GET INTO THE GROOVE

If I feel like I'm already upbeat and ready to roll around in int, T-Rex's "Slider" or "Mambo Son" off Electric Warrior; if I feel like shaking around on the wood when non one is home, The Kinks' Village Green Preservation Society, The Byrds' Mr. Tambourine Man. I feel pretty fantastic listening to George Harrison's All Things Must Pass  or The Buzzcocks' Love Bites.  I could go oin, I guess.  Maybe I've been wrong.  Maybe I'm not that hard to please. Time to re-evaluate.

I HAVE NEVER FELT NOR WANTED TO FEEL DEPRESSED IN MY LIFE...

Now [that] that's out of the way, Plastic Ono Band makes me feel stronger while feeling bad, [and] Arnold's The Barn Tapes -- just "Face" and "Windsor Park" -- any Nick Drake, cliche' I know. The song "Xanadu" by Olivia Newton John destroys me because I remember being crushed by a girl I adored who left me heartbroken at the roller rink for a guy who knew how to roller skate backwards. Last week was a tough week indeed...

CDS OR VINYL?

There's a massive difference and certain albums definitely shine in a different light when played under stylus.  I like them both, but I'll admit to playing CDs more frequently. I bought a new receiver recently that's this whole digital ordeal and doesn't even have a spot for my turntable. I have to listen to records in the basement.

MORRISSEY OR THE SMITHS?

Mori-who? The Smiths of course, but Viva Hate did give them a run for their money. It must be strange competing against yourself.  I think it still goes on to this day for him.

ethos, I'm a No One                                                      
Shannon McCarthy, Real Detroit

It hasn’t been that long since Wherever You Are was released, so if you’ve been clawing for more of Ethos’ wavy sonic departures, then you’re in good hands with their new EP, I’m a No One. This is the first recording with their standing lineup; and the disc is a more cohesive wrap of their eccentric post Brit-rock sorrows. Whereas Wherever You Are jumped from quirky pop tune to Smiths' sadness, often losing the ethereal texture, I’m a No One, with its startling tune “Drive Us,” showcases what the band most excells at creating — slow, burning winds of moodiness. Christian Burke’s wallowing voice can be piercing and theatrical at times; but the more you listen, the more you realize it has to work like that. Definitely two steps up from their last.

Reason to Buy: You always liked it when Ethos brought it down.

Best Listening Experience: “Drive Us” and “Let Me Explain.”

the pathos of ethos, Bliss pop melodies that matter
Sarah Klein, Metro Times

June 12, 2002—With his engaging gap-toothed grin, curly red hair and ruddy cheeks, ethos front man Christian Burke does not look like a rock star. Just as well, as he’s never claimed to be one.

The founder and central driving force of ethos is much like his band: subtle, hyperintelligent and sensitive almost to a fault at times. Ethos is a band that ain’t afraid to wear its heart on its sleeve; the same goes for Burke.

Over rounds of Newcastle at the Garden Bowl at 3 in the afternoon, Burke speaks softly and eloquently about the band he’s fronted for the past decade. Although the group’s dreamy, blissed-out pop sound often draws comparisons to Britpop and the like, Burke insists the band defies labeling.

“We’re not mopey,” he emphasizes with a smile. “The whole Britpop thing comes up a lot. I don’t think it’s an honest reaction, but I understand it.”

Burke wrinkles his nose slightly when asked about comparisons to the Smiths. “Yeah, we get painted with that brush a lot,” he says. “But I think a lot of people don’t really get the Smiths. There’s a lot of very subtle humor to them, which I think a lot of people miss — but I’d say we share that same subtle humor.”

The musician doth protest too much. As much as the comparison makes Burke squirm, ethos does truly tip its hat to Morrissey’s school of the melodic and morose.

Much along the lines of the bitterly funny “Girlfriend in a Coma,” that subtle sense of humor comes into play in ethos’ “Gonna Die.” A sleepy, swirling ode to unrequited love, the song is punctuated by Burke’s falsetto voice, which laments, “I am writing songs for somebody new … someone who’s not you” — followed by an almost comical singsong chorus of “la la la la la la.”

With a cursory listen, it would be easy to brush the song off as a slice of sugary emo schmaltz — but it’s not. Burke’s not afraid to express yearning and heartache considered so characteristically unmasculine — and the end result is haunting.

“‘Gonna Die’ is a lovely song that I never thought people would like,” says Burke. “It’s a false drama. Sometimes just craving the attention of someone unattainable is what living is all about. It’s like the notion that the crush is superior to the actual conquest.”

Ethos is also equally adept at kicking the pace up a notch and churning out hook-riddled pop fare, like “Me & You” — a song where emotional gristle is stirred up with a slide guitar and keyboard-laden riffs, and could easily make Morrissey and Johnny Marr stand up and salute.

The band (Brian Comstock, guitar; Kevin Stripling, bass; Eric Mikich, drums; Tony Dushaj, percussion) has seen a parade of players pass through its ranks in the past decade; Burke is the only original member and the primary songwriter. He remains notably humble about his own musical prowess.

“I’m not really a musician, or at least I don’t see myself as one. The people I play with are pretty fine ones, though.”

In fact, Burke originally wanted to be a writer, but was put off by the cutthroat competitive nature of many writing circles.

“I could only take so many gatherings of ‘like-minds’ poring over each other’s written words, and making loud proclamations about why you’ll never be as good as so-and-so,” he says. “Music seemed like a way to commingle freely without rules.”

Burke ticks off his early musical influences, citing T. Rex, David Bowie, the Buzzcocks and Motown girl groups. When prompted as to what he listens to these days, he answers, “Pretty much the same thing. I don’t buy much of anything new these days. But I did like the Strokes when they first came out, and the Doves.”

The band members share some common interests, but “it’s in there as a big stew,” says Burke. “There’s a love of soul, ’50s pop, ’60s psychedelia, ’70s glam, ’80’s garage punk, and ’90s college radio — do people say that anymore?”

Between swigs of Newcastle, Burke explains that he’d like to see “a return to traditional songwriting.” He says one of the most prominent characteristics of ethos is the ever-present theme of melody.

“People call us a melodic band, and say it sometimes as if this is a slur. Stupid,” he says. “I never understand groups that go far out of their way to make their music unlistenable. I really wasn’t made for these times. I believe if you write a good song, melody is the most important ingredient. You should be able to distort it and shred it to tatters, but at the heart there should still be this tune you can whistle.”

Sensitivity is another recurrent theme in ethos, which Burke plainly states in “Your Touch,” as he sweetly croons “I reveal what I feel, and therefore there is nothing to say.” It’s enough honest, raw and heartfelt emotion to make any knuckle-dragging man’s man sneer in disgust and spew forth derogatory comments about “pussy rock.”

It’s no wonder the band doesn’t hold much interest in the testosterone-injected, alpha-male sound of today’s popular music. Burke holds nothing but disdain for the aggressive clamor and underlying current of hatred that courses through the veins of acts like Eminem and Limp Bizkit.

“I just don’t understand the message,” he says. “Angry young men shouting has never been important to me; I have a great appreciation for intellect and wit. You can get loud, but some of the shit that’s passed out as a ‘message’ now is laughable. I’m sure Lennon’s ashes are whipping themselves into a whirling dervish in his urn at the extreme pointlessness of some of this crap. Not to say I don’t appreciate lyrics being sung with power and conviction,” Burke adds quickly. “Nothing takes the Clash and Sex Pistols away from me … but viva Nick Drake.

“I think there’s a sad need to be controversial on the part of too many well-publicized artists. Too many headlines, not enough content to really warrant the tale being told.”

Ethos tells a tale — one that doesn’t simply wallow in dank indie mire, and it is one that takes a least a few listens to grasp.

If you threw them in a barroom brawl with Nickelback, the shitty nü-metal rock band would most likely kick the shit out of ethos. But there’s no question as to who would walk away with the girl at the end of the night.

ethos, Wherever You Are                                                               
Shannon McCarthy, Real Detroit

"With an ethereal, late night and dusky wind, Christian Burke's spiraling vocals spread over a deep pool of whirling vibes. Just hearing it, you could close your eyes and feel warm; but when actually listening to it, you realize the song is titled "Gonna Die," and it's not as celestial as you thought. Throughout ethos' second album, the band takes to the indulgent nectar of the grandiose self just as Brit-pop did in the early '90s. Suede and Morrissey find their way into Burke's vocal apathy and run around tight lyrics and pick up harmonies...Ethos are not ashamed of writing a spiral high ballad, being dramatic or laying the words on the line. It's not easy to make this kind of music work live, or to save face doing it, but ethos sparkles in a small pinhole of sly style."

esthetics of ETHOS
Shannon McCarthy, Real Detroit

Ethos n: the distinguishing character, sentiment, moral nature or guiding beliefs of a person, group or institution.

"We never were part of a trend," said Christian Burke as he reflected on the band he has fronted for almost 10 years. Merging sonic bursts of spacey Brit-rock with quirky pop flourishes and grandiosity, ethos has never found its perfect match in the Detroit scene. They haven't even come close to a match. "I look at it as something unto itself," Burke continued. "We have a lot of friends who play in groups in the city, and I have a great appreciation for all of them, but I don't know if we are a distant cousin or an ugly sister to any of them. We're kind of our own thing."

Any band can claim to be unique and original; ethos claims only an instrumental connection of their music and song-writing as their calling card. It's been a long road (the band has been playing the scene since 1992), and while numerous bands have changed and broken up, Burke continues to write over-the-top pop songs in his own way. With Brian Comstock (guitars), Eric Mikich (drums), Tony Dushaj (percussion), Kevin Stripling (bass) and Burke representing the current lineup of ethos, the band's latest album, Wherever You Are, distills the essence of ethos' nontraditional approach. With songs stretching from early '90s cool sadness to up-and-at-'em quick beats taken from The Smiths or Buzzcocks, ethos is happy to have an album that literally jumps from one place to the next, never really knowing where it will land. It can do a number on your emotions.

That age-old question of h ow many shows are enough and how many are too many plagues the band but doesn't effect the outcome. Burke and his bandmates are having fun playing and can be proud knowing that ethos is really doing their own thing. "I've learned to actually enjoy playing again. I never really enjoyed it that much, and now I really enjoy it. I think it's this group of people that is making me have a good time because they're really good players and they're fun and energetic." With new band members comes a different approach to song-writing as well as the live vibe. The eclectic band members tend to personify ethos' sounds. "When you meet people, you don't want to hit them over the head with what you want them to be like. You let them grow into it on their own. Case in point, someone like Kevin. We probably don't share a lot of the same records in our collection, but we found a common ground here where what he is! adding is essential to what I want. Obviously, there's something appealing in here for him, even though we're not sitting down going, 'Let's sound like A, B and C."

And even though Burke loves being on the stage, recording in the studio is more of his game. "It's peaceful, you get to explore your ideas more." The band is already planning on recording some new songs in March with the new band lineup. But this time, instead of adding excess atmospheric layers and accents, ethos wants to record the new songs with a more raw and live feeling. "I think the new songs I've written are geared towards that. I don't want to put strings on it, I don't want to mess around with lots of pianos and things, I want to go straight ahead and see if it comes out nice. The next stuff will be the special stuff. That's what I believe, or that's what I'm supposed to say."