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The End Will be Kicks “s/t” CD

I don't think I have the complete packaging with this one, so by my neurotic standards I technically shouldn't be covering it. But the promo sleeve actually looks nice and feels somewhat complete, so... since I can't afford to drop the cash for a finished copy right now due to been buying too many CD's lately as it is, I'm gonna let it slide, because this is an excellent album that deserves to be heard. The End Will be Kicks is from Sweden and features former members of Him Kerosene and Breach (sadly I've never been able to track down much from Him Kerosene), and this self-titled affair is—yep, you guessed it—the band's debut full-length on Chalksounds. This one unloads 10 tracks and about 40 minutes of jangly and melodic indie rock that blends catchy sensibilities with an efficient sense of rawness that lends a slightly dated sounding edge to the overall tone. To some degree there's a "hip" tinge of rocked out darkness that has a "modern throwback" effect, if that makes sense, but for the most part the songwriting is very memorable and I really dig how they take a discordant and lightly noisy attack and counterbalance it with gripping melodic attributes. I'm guessing there are a number of bands along these general lines out there that I simply have no clue about because I don't get exposed to this kind of material as often as I'd like, so some might scoff at my take on it, but I can definitely hear some riffing in here that has a DC-ish kind of emo/indie ring to it (you know, the real deal stuff), while some of the occasional excursions into ringing reverb effects and whatnot sound more akin to a style of playing that's more "popular" these days. But the end result doesn't really have a lot in common with either of those influences, and, at least to me, this band has an overall aesthetic that's familiar yet still fairly original. Regardless of all that, I just really love the writing here, and when you break it down there are some slick little winding riffs and lots of intricate interactions between the instruments that are pretty damn involved considering the catchy punch that often results. Nicely done.

The End Will be Kicks "Don Johnson"
The End Will be Kicks "Lights of Planes"

As is often the case with these little Scandinavian gems, your best source in the US is probably going to be the magnificent It's a Trap webstore. I'll probably end up dropping the $13 for a fully-loaded copy of the album myself at some point, and so should you if the above tracks catch your ear:

@ It's a Trap

This CD came to me in the exact same type of sleeve as the one above, so maybe I don't have the complete packaging with this one either, but I really can't tell!? Either way, Aerial is another Swedish act, and yes, I do believe that "Black Rain From the Bombing" is indeed yet another debut release (this time from the No Method label). Apparently these guys draw comparisons to Sonic Youth and Mono, but I hate Sonic Youth and don't particularly think this sounds like Mono either—aside from some relatively long songs and a few drawn out instrumental breaks that do the ebb and flow thing while utilizing some droning effects. It's mainly dark and moody indie-ish rock with soft singing mixed very deep back against the instruments. Musically there are lots of brightly ringing riffs that spiral around the vocals and percussion, alongside fuzzy distortion that does at times decay from rigid power chords and jangly riffing into intense wails of relatively abrasive noise and feedback—which can hint at the gratingly obnoxious level of Sonic Youth, but fits into the overall feel of the material more logically and therefore actually makes sense. There is a degree of repetitiveness in place as well, but that doesn't really bother me, even in the case of the tracks that top 10 minutes in length. It actually comes across as a relatively concise little outing, this one. I'd like to hear more from this band in the future to see what happens, because there are a number of angles that they could choose to further explore.

Aerial "Time is on Fire"

This one sells for only $8, so they might be billing it as an EP since there are only four songs (granted the total running time is over 35 minutes), I'm not sure. Either way the same notion applies and It's a Trap is a great resource, so make the grab if you're into the material:

@ It's a Trap

Comments

  1. Overall, Aerial reminds me of Death Cab For Cutey, while their vocalist sounds like Jeremy Chatelain from Jets to Brazil. Good stuff.

    6.2.2006 | By Anonymous

  2. that why i love your site andrew. always lot of good new shit i’ve never even heard of. already plunked down my $15 for The End Will Be Kicks cd.

    6.2.2006 | By Al

  3. Wellp, Andrew you never cease to amaze me with high quality music. Be it thrash, metalcore, indie or whatever. I’m definitaly digging Aerial. Keep mixing things up!

    6.2.2006 | By Adrianoso

  4. if you liked tewbk, check out a band from l.a. called oslo. they’re very similar, except oslo sound a bit heavier. i’d say their album is worth a featured review.

    6.4.2006 | By atheist

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