Amerykański rock/hardcore/punk inspirowany DINOSAUR JR, HUSKER DU, MEAT PUPPERS...
My Car And My Guitar:
New Jersey’s Kicking Spit aren’t anything new. Let’s get that out of the way right now. They’ve listened to Zen Arcade and You’re Living All Over Me quite a few times in their day, and they’re not trying to pretend they haven’t. But their particular blend of hard-rock/indie/punk/alternative isn’t so easy to come by these days. And Kicking Spit do a great job of bringing their influences together to create interesting, melodic, hard-hitting music that you actually WANT to listen to. Some of their influences aren’t quite doing that. But Kicking Spit rock on.
Opener “Nothing Left” begins with a searing metallic guitar solo that is just the call to arms rock n’ roll kind of needs right now. The vocals kick in, and I’m immediately reminded of The Replacement and “college rock” and things of that ilk. “Skulls” has its more psychadelic, effect-laden moments (living up to the EP’s title) as well furious Black Flag-inspired breakdowns. And the guitar work on Truth Or Consequences is downright impressive. Not “this sounds like Bob Mould” impressive, but in-its-own-right-this-is-shredding impressive. The album’s most punk rock track, “Way Out,” is the fastest, noisiest thing I’ve heard in a while- quick changes of power chords, howling, effected vocals… this is modern punk at its finest.
PsychRockBullshit is only 15 minutes long, but it’s impossible to listen just once. It always keeps you on your toes, and you find yourself thinking of a different band from riff to riff. After enough listens, you just recognize it as Kicking Spit. Nobody else is quite doing this same thing, and it’s working quite well for them. The talented trio are reportedly in works on a full-length, and I look forward to seeing if it manages to maintain the melodic fury of PsychRockBullshit. As for now, I’ll keep my flannel shirt on and keep listening to this excellent EP.