The Kyle Sowashes

"What's Important (And What's Not)" CD

Bettawreckonize Media

Genres: indie pop, lo-fi

November 2006

Kyle Sowash of Tom Foolery and the Mistakes fame has gone solo (well, sort of). This new songwriting outlet of his features him and a rotating door of band members, though the style still remains quite similar to his past band's work. Lo-fi, home-brewed indie pop with amateur vocals and catchy albeit spasmodic song structures is what's on tap, and Sowash does it like a seasoned pro. Whether this will last a dozen listens, or whether you'll just take a few keepers from the record depends on your affinity for this sort of thing. Highlights for me were breezy college rocker "Pitchforks" and it's carefree "whoo-oo-oos," more sensitive "Shadows Of My Stevens", and zippy "High Life".... while the other songs were mostly passable (though occasionally tossers, like "A Faster Asshole"), I didn't feel compelled to come back to them really. Still, as an item of the homemade indie pop underground, What's Important is worth a look.

mp3s: in the mail, pitchforks

73%

Fun Fact: All of The Kyle Sowashes' releases came out in 2006 except for one lone compilation appearance way back in 2001 - Cody Records' Not Songs, But Anthems.

Matt Shimmer

[Vitals: 10 tracks, 38:53, distributed by the artist (9 bucks ppd), released 2006]