 The
Kuffs
"Figures, Patterns, and Objects" CDR
Self-released
Genres: indie pop, indie rock, pop
e-mail the
band
Dec 2 - 8 2002 |
Keyboards
have always been in an odd place in rock music. Typically used as
accompaniment to other instruments, they rarely are present for
anything more than a few beepy background chords. The Kuffs
seem to have forgotten this rule, however, as lots of Figures,
Patterns, and Objects is heavy in bleepy melodies and
atmospherics. But you know what? For the most part, it isn't that bad
a sound at all.
Looking at the songs individually, this album doesn't really piece
together. Each of the five songs is different from the others, and
this variety gives off a sort of scattered feeling, which is a bit of
a turn-off. However, the quality of the songs easily makes up for
this, causing the album's shortcomings to seem considerably less
important.
"On Seventh," the album's opener, starts things off in a
dark, creepy mode, and "Portal" continues this, making use
of a moody bassline and floating electronic keyboard atmospherics.
"Workaday Morning" then comes in, picking things up with a
warm, airy melody and vocals that bear an uncanny resemblance to those
of singer/songwriter Rufus Wainwright. The result is a
thoroughly enjoyable, yet somewhat familiar tune. Immediately after
comes "Played," which kicks up the guitar distortion and
heads for a very Strokes-esque sound (right down to the
"bad PA"-style vocals). And then, finally, comes
"Steps," the nearly nine-minute closer that starts off
quietly and slowly builds up in a flurry of guitars, keyboards, drums,
and more of those Rufus-style vocals.
All in all, this is a very promising debut release. However, the
band needs to work on finding a stronger, less scattered niche. As
well, the songwriting should be made more structured, with less focus
on the abstract keyboard burblings. But those things will (hopefully)
come with time.
80%
Matt Shimmer [Vitals:
5 tracks; distributed by the
band;
released 2002] |
