Kevin Bronson on September 11th, 2020

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Burning Pools are the explosive combination of singer-bassist Ginger Reyes Pooley, her husband-drummer Kristopher Pooley and guitarist Max Bernstein.

Both Pooleys have stints in the Smashing Pumpkins on their resumés. Ginger, once the bassist in the all-female pop-punk band Halo Friendlies, played in the Pumpkins’ 2007 reunion lineup, eventually spending three years in the band, and Kristopher came on as keyboardist in ’08 for the 20th-anniversary tour. Since, Ginger has played bass for several artists, including Gwen Stefani, and Kristopher has worked as musical director for many artists, including Kesha. It was in that role that he met Bernstein.

Burning Pools arrived with a bang last week — their debut single “Bang Bang” features Bernstein’s strafing guitar, Kristopher Pooley’s relentless pounding and Ginger Pooley’s impassioned invective against money as society’s end game. “I want something lasting / something true / Your gold throne won’t save you,” she sings.

It’s the first song from a forthcoming EP that mines similar themes. “It’s nothing new for music to be a voice of criticism of our culture,” she says. “That is the purpose of a lot of art. This is just my way of expressing my frustration with the priorities of modern society. Valuing money over everything, undervaluing women and people of color. Hopefully, our songs make people who are of the same accord feel heard and supported. There is so much injustice in the world, we hope to be a part of the solution in some small way.”

||| Stream: “Bang Bang”