The Courier: Pasadena City College

Pasadena City College
The Courier
May 10, 2001
‘Heaven’s Burning’ for those who don’t want to go to hell

When you think about young female singers, your mind might conjure up images of a few princesses of pop.

The trend is disturbing. Young, underaged, midriff-flaunting, surgically enhanced, bubblegum pop divas gyrate rhythmically to the beats of the same overused drum line . . . all for the amusement of geriatric, Viagra-using former presidential candidates.

So it’s refreshing when local all-girl band, Heaven’s Burning, comes to the scene offering a different sound, fresh, meaningful lyrics, a funky beat, and a wholesome attitude that extends right down to their appearance.

The two current (and only) members are instantly identifiable – Kristy Jones, guitarist and vocalist is sweet and demure-looking with a curly mop of fiery, red hair and Angela Santiago Chung, bassist and vocalist, is, well, also sweet and demure-looking . . . . But why the name Heaven’s Burning?

“One of the names I liked was Violet Burning, but that was already taken. I really like play-on-words, so I played around with it a bit and came up with Heaven’s Burning. It’s an oxymoron, and I also like the fact that it can mean different things to different people, ” said Chung.

While a short album, only 21 minutes long, the tracks are solid and have an earthy type theme to them. The recently released Free Agents (Soul’d Here) is their first full album.

“It’s more of a concept album as far as the tracks are structured in that there is a beginning, middle, and an end,” said Chung.

The music is a little hard to describe as it doesn’t fit any one genre. It definitely has influences of grunge, rock, alternative, ska, and perhaps even a bit of Jill Sobule. The musicians offer that they have been compared to other girl bands like Luscious Jackson and Veruca Salt – influences that are apparent.

The band also has some Christian influences, but it isn’t typical “Christian music.”

“The religious significance in our music depends on who you are. Certain aspects of our music have different meanings for different people. But our lyrics are affected by our personal beliefs. If we make an impact with our music on some people – make them happy – then I think we’ve done a good thing,” said Jones.

– Torin Miller