Album Review by Mark Bayross
To answer their own question, it seems highly probable that, this year, The Kinison have been mostly listening to At The Drive-In, such is the spikiness of their guitars and urgency of Chris Lewis’s yelping vocals.
Still, the Illinois five-piece have added some interesting touches of their own – moments of ambient introspection and swathes of keyboard (EVERY GENIUS HAS THEIR HANG-UPS; WILD & CRAZY KIDS) elevate this above the usual screamo shenanigans – and while some tracks clock in at a punky two minutes and under, there is enough melody to lend a number of tracks (XOXOXO for example) a new wave sheen.
Admittedly, the lyrics of songs such as AMERICAN COLLECTABLES (“Gotta blanket newspaper / Mr. Dirty coat for a neighbor / Don’t want to liven up the streets anymore”) may need a bit more work but the sentiment is admirable and offers more promise than the likes of YOU KISSED LILLY (“Just kissed Lilly / Just kissed a whore / Just kissed Lilly / You don’t love me anymore”).
The album has the benefit of improving as it goes along (musically at least) and hints at a bright future for the band, as all good debuts should.
