Locally Yours: Our critics discuss some recent releases
All of the CDs you’re reading about here are pretty good. Some of the albums came out earlier this year; others are fresh off the presses. Enjoy the reviews and listen responsibly (i.e., to local music).
Der Todesking
Bird/Brain
(self-released)
Der Todesking performs a warped bastardization of rock, an offshoot so twisted and distorted that it’s categorized as punk because no other genre will claim it. The guitars have an eerie tone reminiscent of the Dead Kennedys’ East Bay Ray, while vocalist Andrew Vox’s scratchy, panicky delivery recalls Rudimentary Peni’s bedeviled Nick Blinko, especially when he’s shrieking apocalyptically about “soldiers in the army of God” during the ominous opener, “The Doombird Cometh.” The rhythm section makes the songs sound both claustrophobic and ready to collapse: The drums erupt in sporadic torrents, and the bass lines rattle erratically. Bird/Brain is a rough, grimy record, but it’s smartly sequenced and fraught with tension. Onstage, Der Todesking, which plays at the Haunted Kitchen in Lawrence on October 9, offers shocking, anarchic experiences, the kinds of exhilarating yet oddly stressful spectacles that leave jolted witnesses questioning what they’ve beheld.
— Andrew Miller
ID and Sleeper
With Fixed Hands
(Circle Into Square Records)
ID and Sleeper seem to be made for each other. Neither adheres to traditional hip-hop song structure; as a result, their sophomore effort is a complicated affair that requires multiple listens to fully digest it. At the production helm, Sleeper lays out dense, ambient landscapes for his MC counterpart to trudge through — at times, it’s a strain for listeners to keep up. But aside from a few overbearing moments, With Fixed Hands showcases the duo’s most innovative material. Elements of abstract hip-hop track iD as he paces carefully through the synth-heavy movements of “Sink, Swallow, Spit,” which is followed by the sinister Aztec backdrop and Kool Keith cadence on “Among the Ruins.” The album’s reggae-infused “Burn at Both Ends” closes things out with a welcome wind-down, reminding us that the genre’s boundaries won’t be found in Lawrence.
— Andy Vihstadt
The Jen Say Kwahs
Fear and Magic
(self-released)
The Jen Say Kwahs were just picking up steam last year when bassist and guitarist Jeff Milberger split for Chicago. A sharp homecoming performance at the recent Pitch Music Showcase hinted at what might have been and put an exclamation point on the release of the group’s first and maybe last EP. The self-released six-songer is a worthy document of the group’s early output, which covered a wide swath of melodic indie-rock territory. The standout song “Heroics” mirrors the group’s M.O.: clean guitar lines, upbeat grooves, bright melodies and unpretentious vocals. Guitarist and pedal steel picker Brett Resnick is impressive throughout, and Milberger’s busy bass lines gel keenly with Phil Canty’s driving drum beats. The only disappointment is the absence of more recent material — here’s hoping it finds a way to surface.
— Richard Gintowt
Suzannah Johannes
Suzannah Johannes
(Range Life Records)
With four songs at a running time of just over 10 minutes, this debut from Suzannah Johannes goes by fast and sublime. Initially a fingerstyle-guitar troubadour, Johannes enlisted the help of the rhythm section from fellow Lawrence crew Ghosty — Mike Nolte on bass, David Wetzel on keys and Josh Adams on drums — plus Fourth of July guitarist Steve Swyers, to form a Stray Gators to her inner Neil Young. This would be the Young of Harvest, the sad and desperate but eternally hopeful searcher. On the torchy “Kelly Ann,” Johannes asks, in a breathy warble that could launch a thousand road trips, Where’s the river where I can wash my heart/And fall apart/While drifting away/And where, my dear, is Kelly Ann? On “Horserider’s Smile,” the loping ballad about a rambler whose friends have moved on and forgotten her, she promises, I’ll come lookin’ for you in the night/And I’ll make it worth your while. With an old soul style and a sense of what makes a song timeless, Johannes establishes herself in these four songs as more than a talent to watch — she’s one with music worth memorizing.
— Jason Harper
Kool-Aide and the Exact Change Band
Tears Fallin Down Like Rain
(K.J. Johnson Production)
Guitarist and frontman Kool-Aide knows that the blues is about a key to the universe, not fixed parameters, so the music on this album goes everywhere — from the tender soul of “Chokin’ Kind” to the barroom strut of “Kool-Aide Blues” to an intricate alchemy of keys, guitar, and snare that earns the title “Wizard Blues.” But no moment suggests the big picture more artfully than “Get Your Money,” a song that starts as a bass-driven confrontation with a wayward lover and turns into a party jam, calling Are you ready?/Do the bus stop! That dance launches into an extended hip-hop-style rap before something like a Philly soul train pulls out of the station, heralded by train-whistle vocals and stoked by fiery keyboards.
— Danny Alexander
Mac Lethal
Crown Prime Rib Mixtape
(Black Clover Records)
Mac Lethal’s persona is so thoroughly Kansas City that his hometown fans are in a bit of a predicament. On the one hand, it’s great to see the guy who rapped about the Hurricane and his disdain for KCHZ 95.7 get nationwide attention with his Rhymesayers debut, 11:11; on the other hand, it’s sort of like watching the entire world hit on your girlfriend. Maybe that’s why Mac and DJ Sku’s latest, Crown Prime Rib Mixtape, feels like a lo-fi nod to the townies, and not just because of the Jack Stack-inspired title. That doesn’t mean every track is a three-minute tribute to the Royals — there’s still a mix of first-take freestyles, trash-talking originals and even a few campy comedy bits. But there’s something a bit more personal about an underproduced mixtape making unapologetic local references (yes, Manute Bol really does live in Olathe) that brings back fond memories of Mac’s low-key Scribble Jam days.
— Aaron Ladage
Johnny Quest
Chain Smoke
(self-released)
The all-star cast that Johnny Quest put on his newest mixtape, Chain Smoke, includes Taha of Heet Mob, Stik Figa, SG, Brother of Moses, Nezbeat and … Joe Good?! Thought that dude was retired. Definitely on active duty is a singer named Monique, whose soothing vibrato paints a rich layer on “Bus 39,” over lyrics by Adru the Misphit. On tracks eight and nine, energetic hooks from Approach (“Show Love”) and Reach (“Put You On”) make up the meaty highlights in the center of this beat sandwich, while throughout, Johnny Quest’s steady hand on the turntables keeps the mix on the rails. The giddy anticipation of a Joe Good return evaporates by the 11th track, when Good proclaims that the year is “2006,” but even his old vocals are welcome, adding Good vibrations to the lineup.
— Nadia Pflaum
The Shaker Hoods
Mean Machine
(self-released)
When the keyboards kick in on the title track, setting the rhythm on fire and getting in a tug-of-war with snarling electric guitar, it’s clear that this band is reaching back about 40 years to the garage-rock roots of what we now call metal — it’s John Kay and Steppenwolf with a healthy dose of Count Five bubbling just under the surface. With an earnest bravado that no one seems to know how to embrace anymore, these eight songs offer a blast of fresh air made for the highway. Try out “All Mistakes” with your foot on the gas and see if it doesn’t bring on a smiling reminder of why you loved rock in the first place — while also calling to mind the current war, the dying economy and the sense that the biggest shoe is yet to drop. After all, to say this music draws on the past is only to cite what it shares with all of today’s guitar rock. This band is just brave enough to reach for a time when the sound of full-throttle guitar, bass and drums felt strong enough to kick that shoe out from under a stumbling giant.
— Danny Alexander
Softee
Birds & Aliens
(Chauncey Recordings)
The best kind of cupcake is homemade banana — a melt-on-your-tongue confection that might actually be a little bit nourishing. The new Softee EP is kind of like that. Consider the cutesy packaging (a cardboard sleeve and liner notes full of sleepy-eyed birds and toothy aliens) the cupcake wrapper. And the frosting with sprinkles? They are the simple but addictive melodies laced with Flora Chang’s synth and Sarah Anderson’s playful singing. “Stupid Dance” and “’70s Van” will induce a toothache, but this indie pop isn’t fattening. For all its sweetness, this scene’s favorite female rock band has substance. The ladies of Softee understand that girls just wanna have fun, and that doesn’t necessarily mean sexing it up. How about a road trip or a random night alone or making up a song about birds and aliens? That the topic of love only makes it into one song in this batch is especially refreshing.
— Crystal Wiebe
Under The Black Sails
Under The Black Sails
(self-released)
Under The Black Sails plays the kind of gruffly melodic hardcore that dominated all-ages clubs and the crustier corners of high-school parking lots in the mid-’90s. Like early No Use for a Name and Good Riddance, this Kansas City trio churns out fast, catchy tunes with a singer who is tuneful without crooning and is forceful without seeming too strident. The band stocks its debut EP with crowd-pleasing elements: The first song contains a group-shouted “fuck you,” and three of the six tracks include some variation on the timeless “whoa-oh” sing-along hook. The production can be rough, but DIY acts, especially those as proudly alcohol-fueled as Under The Black Sails, wear muddy sound patches and the occasional botched transition as badges of honor. Given modern pop-punk’s blinding polish, it’s refreshing to hear a few scuffs.
— Andrew Miller
Forrest Whitlow
7
(self-released)
If it’s possible to be a cult favorite in a scene as small as Kansas City’s, Forrest Whitlow is making a good run at it. The prolific songwriter’s seventh album — conveniently titled 7 — expands on his versatile bag of tricks. Less of an alt-country troubadour than a seasoned pop songwriter, Whitlow has an idiosyncratic voice and slightly bent melodic sense that benefit from drummer and engineer John Bersuch, bassist Jeff Harshbarger, saxophonist Mark Southerland and violist Laurel Morgan (among others). With Whitlow’s open-tuned acoustic guitar at the forefront, 7‘s slower numbers (“Banda Lou” and “Tattered Tune”) strike a mood reminiscent of Beck’s Sea Change. “On My Way to See Aimee Mann” sounds like something from the Chris Stamey/dB’s songbook, while “Vanilla Stoli” could have been politely taken from Alex Chilton. But the best reason to spin this disc isn’t for its sincere flatteries; it’s because Whitlow writes some damn fine tunes of his own.
— Richard Gintowt
