Mittwoch, 5. November 2014

Review: Kill It Kid - You Owe Nothing


Info
Band: Kill It Kid
Album: You Owe Nothing
Style: Grunge/Blues/Rock
Released: 10th November, 2014
Label: Sire Records (WMG)
Country: UK

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.

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