(Source: Kill It Kid's Official Facebook Page)
Info
Band: Kill It Kid
Album: You Owe Nothing
Style: Grunge/Blues/Rock
Released: 10th
November, 2014
Label: Sire Records (WMG)
Country: UK
Facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/killitkid
KILL IT KID haven't been on my
radar until the release of their video for “I'll Be the First” a
few months ago. Now, their new album will be released in a few days
and I got the opportunity to listen to it already! All I can say up
to now: It's a shame I didn't find out about them earlier. Beer cans
ready, people – this album is big!
The opener to You Owe Nothing,
“Black It Out”, has a lot of groove from the beginning already.
If you have a slight sense for rhythms, you just can't stop moving
your head. Guitarist
Chris Turpin's vocals,
accompanied by Stephanie Jean
(piano)
as second voice, are heavy
and emotional. A great opener
that makes me want to hear more.
“High
Class” is a little less heavy than the first song. Still, it
creates a nice, yet dark, atmosphere during the verse until the
chorus breaks into groovy guitar riffs and you
find yourself headbanging
again. A slow, heavy track with nice guitar effects (especially
during the solo).
“Sick
Case of Loving You” starts a bit faster but is just as groovy as
the first two. The middle part reminds me a lot of some riffs off
METALLICA's 90s albums Load
and Reload (mind
you, this is a good thing).
Turpin and Jean both get the opportunity to sing a verse all by
themselves which points out the reason for KILL IT KID having two
vocalists as Jean
is just as
brilliant as Turpin.
Both in one band and you have to decide who is the lead vocalist? I
wouldn't know what to do.
The
album continues with the first ballad. “Caroline” is probably the
best rock ballad I have heard in a while. Beautiful lyrics, perfect
two-part vocals, and the music accompanying it – there's only one
word that comes into my mind for
describing the sound to you:
Perfect! This has to be my favourite song off You Owe
Nothing yet. I embedded
the official video here, so you can listen to the track and see what
I mean:
(source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D4S2WiLJsFI)
Following
that, the album just has to deteriorate slightly. Still, “Tired of
the Way That
You Want to Live” is a great song with what I would think is a
bottle neck style guitar riff during the verse that adds a slight
country touch for me. Nice, but not as good as the first four.
“Blood
Stop and Run” is the first song that Jean sings as the lead
vocalist. Heavy bass, nice guitar riffs and again my head doesn't
stop moving while writing this sentence. This is what my ears want
rock music to sound like!
If I would have to recommend a second song to listen to before buying
the album, this would be the one.
“Cheap
Revival” starts off with piano,
a heavily distorted bass and drums before Turpin's vocals are added.
What makes this song great is the chorus which is
so catchy that I'll be hearing it in my head for the next few weeks,
surely. Has there been any
song that completely disappointed me on this album yet? Not in the
slightest.
A
piano intro announces the next ballad, “Hurts to Be Loved By You”,
which is definitely a lot more different to “Caroline”. I only
start to like it when the guitar kicks in during the middle part
which adds a bit more rock to the track and brings in a nice solo
towards the end. Still, there's no chance of throwing “Caroline”
off the throne of ballads.
Song
number nine, “I'll Be
the First”, is responsible for me writing this review at all.
Heavy, 90s rock style guitars, great songwriting with Jean's backings
providing the perfect background for Turpin's strong vocals. This one
is probably the only contestant for the best song on You
Owe Nothing (beside “Caroline”,
of course). You will see what I mean once you've seen the video
yourself:
(source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LFplYH-0aMA)
Of three songs sang by Stephanie Jean, “Don't It Feel Good” is my absolute favourite. The vocals just couldn't be any better than that. The song's as groovy as most of the songs on the album and the vocals just add a nice punk touch to the track. Three favourite songs on the record – this is number three for me.
Of three songs sang by Stephanie Jean, “Don't It Feel Good” is my absolute favourite. The vocals just couldn't be any better than that. The song's as groovy as most of the songs on the album and the vocals just add a nice punk touch to the track. Three favourite songs on the record – this is number three for me.
“Tried
Used Loved Abused” is the next ballad. This one is even more
emotional than the first two and a perfect song for radio stations.
However, the track is a bit too much a
pop ballad for me but I'm
sure there will be many people out there who would love the piano and
subtle bass lines accompanying Turpin's vocals. The solo, however, is
quite nice in my opinion.
The
only thing missing for this album to be quite close to a perfect
album is an acoustic track – which comes with “Law of Love”. As
a guitarist, I can't help but admire the guitar play in this one.
Accompanied by Jean's lead vocals and Turpin's backings, there's a
perfect atmosphere to end a nearly perfect rock record with a
brilliant unplugged song. Fair play.
You Owe
Nothing is a rock record that
reminds me a lot of 90s rock music and music
nostalgics will love it. There are one or two songs that are not as
brilliant as the rest of the album but there aren't any songs that I
have to skip because I couldn't listen to them. All in all a great
album of a band that I will keep an eye on over the next few years.
9 out
of 10 points
Listen to:
“Caroline”, “Blood Stop and Run”, “I'll be the First”,
“Don't it Feel Good”
Tracklist
1. Black It
Out
2. High
Class
3. Sick of
Loving You
4. Caroline
5. Tired of
the Way That You Want to Live
6. Blood
Stop and Run
7. Cheap
Revival
8. Hurts to
Be Loved by You
9. I'll Be
the First
10. Don't
It Feel Good
11. Tried
Used Loved Abused
12.Law of
Love
Members
Vocals,
Guitar: Chris Turpin
Vocals,
Piano: Stephanie Jean
Bass: Dom
Kozubik
Drums:
Marc Jones
