Ok, so if you love Mates Of State, Belle & Sebastian, mixed in with early 2000’s stuff like The Anniversary or Discount, I just found you your new favorite band. It’s apparent a few songs in this has to be a group of people who remember that whole scene because it’s definitely the kind of music you can picture singing along to at a local VFW hall show. Before I even looked at this band’s bio I knew it was a group of seasoned music veterans making the music because it’s tight, energetic and well crafted.
Kittyhawk are from Chicago, Illinois and feature members of Dowsing, Pet Symmetry, Joie De Vivre, and Mother Evergreen. The claim in their press release is that they don’t want to just be considered a side project of these bands or just a group of people from other bands kind of getting together and messing around. Well, once you get about three songs in you can hear that they gel very well together and form a cohesive unit that is their own unique thing. The band feels like a mix of 90’s alt kids that were young enough during the early days of The Get Up Kids, The Promise Ring, Piebald, The Smoking Popes, Rainer Maria and stuff of that era that it was a big influence on them. The vocals though make this so enjoyable as its reminiscent of many female artists from Amanda Palmer (Dresden Dolls) to Kori Gardner (Mates Of State). In some moments it reminds a lot of the later work of That Dog like the last stuff they did in the 90’s for “Retreat From The Sun”.
Overall it’s a great album but I do think the couple odd covers thrown in would have been better b-sides than album tracks. It’s just jarring to be rocking out and then have a weird version of Silver Bells pop on. Later the band takes on The Supremes “You Keep Me Hanging On” in a mostly keyboard rendition that doesn’t mesh with the rest of the release. It’s like one minute you hear Sunny Day Real Estate and other great early 2000’s influences and the next these older songs that while they may be an influence disrupt the flow of an otherwise flawless experience. I understand though how if a band puts it down to tape they just want it out there and available so I can’t blame them. This is a band I definitely would like to hear more from.
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Count Your Lucky Stars
- Sam Lowry