Kicking – Us Against
SPOTIFY: https://open.spotify.com/album/6l7JjVowZ1EDL3824N6pWI?si=9htqaFxYSAqviDIIxDlmJw
A swell of feedback opens Kicking’s Us Against and the first song, “Shallow”, soon segues into primal riffing that only relents with the introduction of lead singer Bobbie’s first line. The straight-forward riffing dominating the early portion of the track and the two guitar attack of band members David and SG carry the sort of impressive musical weight that invokes the doom influences in the band’s music quite well. Bobbie’s singing creates a striking juxtaposition with the guitar work thanks to clear, melodic manner she delivers the lyrical content and brings an emotive edge to the song lacking in similar efforts from lesser outfits. Kicking moves the song into some particularly creative atmospherics during the song’s second half and it makes for a potent mix opening Us Against. It’s the EP’s longest song, as well, and has obvious merits as the EP opener.
Atmospherics are particularly key to the EP’s second song, “The Haunt”, and the production accentuates the subtle, nuanced touches the guitars bring to the song. Drummer Henry gives the track a strong, propulsive heartbeat with some solid bass playing from Lacy rounding out the rhythm section’s charge. There’s such a strong command of dynamics with this song and you can hear its palpably inspiring effects on the vocals – Bobbie really excels here with a powerfully emotional performance that hits all the right peaks and never slides into self indulgent vocal theatrics. As we should expect from this style, there are no solo spots or spotlit virtuoso moments. Instead, Kicking abides by the most fundamental of songcraft approaches – they serve the song far more than they do their egos. The aforementioned atmospherics never come off as straining for effect and, instead, create a near theatrical mood that remains focused throughout and never risks going overboard.
The thunderous drumming opening the EP finale “Unkind” comes complete with dirty, dissonant guitars layered with echo and distortion. The fretwork weaves around the backbeat with a mix of power and finesse and Lacy’s bass playing gives the song a steady pulse at its center that moves in lockstep with the drums. The extended instrumental introduction gives way to Bobbie’s vocals after the 90 second mark and she has an intense, urgent edge to her voice quite unlike anything we heard with the preceding tunes. Some key backing vocals come in along the way, but Bobbie carries the majority of the song without any apparent effort and tailors her voice well to match the instrumental high points along the way. There’s a near tribal quality to the drumming and that element of the sound is only further accentuated as the track progresses. It’s a strong closer for this EP.
Call it doomgaze, call it what you like, but Kicking write, perform, and record accessible and rough-hewn music brimming over with intelligence and emotion alike. Their newest EP release Us Against only features three songs, but the five piece manages to pack more into those three songs than some bands, regardless of style, manage in a full length effort. This is a highly recommended outing.
YOU TUBE: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yhtwNFjHs5g&feature=youtu.be
Mindy McCall
