Hotly-tipped Manchester label High Voltage Sounds' first release was "Power & Demonstrations": a warmly-received effort featuring tracks by the likes of The Longcut, Performance, The Sonar Yen and Lisa Brown. And with "Trippin'" it sounds like they have another notable release on their hands.
Its' authors, THE KBC, are three young whippersnappers grasping for their 20th birthdays. They hail from Preston and profess a love of '70s funk and Motown. Curiously, though, while you could easily chuck lopsided nouns like "dance-y" at their debut single "Trippin'", its' Gang Of Four-ish martiality and skinny post-punk moves are not all that dissimilar to the shapes being thrown by the likes of Maximo Park at present. However, singer James Mulholland is in possession of a frail, yearning voice instead of the expected Colin Newman-style bark, and the band's collective whirl of sound is ultimately likeable on its' own terms. Besides, the song's "you're running on empty" catchline wil soon burrow its' way past your synapses' firewall, and you're doomed then, believe me.
|
Flip "Days Of Disillusion", meanwhile, demonstrates The KBC have more than the one string to their sonic bow. This track was recorded at one of the band's night-long sessions at drummer Michael Brown's gaff and - with its' trippy beats'n'keyboard-fuelled intro and twinkly guitar - is a different kind of addictive rush that recalls the likes of late '80s indie merchants like The Field Mice or a more naive, youth club version of the baggy Madchester sound.
The KBC are a small, but nonetheless distinct, deviation from the current norm and are undoubtedly a name to look out for in the future. Let's see where they go from here.
|
