As a former resident, I can say with confidence that southeast South Dakota can often be an incredibly boring and desolate place. That said, this Sioux Falls ex-patriot was most delighted to hear that current SoDak-resident indie rockers The Kickback are building their own fun-filled oasis for all who care to enjoy it with them.
“A New History” begins with a background pulse of a slowly accelerating train. Thick vibrato guitars and emotive vocal patterns join to emit a slow longing not unlike that of one found trapped in a barren landscape. Vocalist Billy Yost apologetically croons he’ll “only say goodbye” and wastes no time doing it. Within a minute and 20 seconds the listener finds themselves in the throws of a roller coaster who’s destination is only the ride of one’s life.
The following five tracks of this EP brought a wealth of notes to my scratch pad: “drums pushing an anxious attention”, “intuitive dynamics”, and “actually intelligent smart-pop harmonies” are a few of the most notable ones. The guitars often channel high-energy acts like The Hives, The Vines and the White Stripes with regard to accessibility, all the while paying tribute to the more complex syncopations of prog-rockers past. To put it a different way, the EP’s stand out track “We All We Know” takes a new twist on that first chord progression every guitarist learns during their third week of lessons and makes it seem downright innovative. Also, it’s important to note that not often can a band announce “We always say we’ve got it all” and not be considered liars because of it.
The Crackup, their most ambitious of the record, was the only track that lent negative notes to the pad. While they continue to bring a danceability infectious even to the lowest looking of shoegazers, the rhythms miss a beat during the chorus when all instruments fall into a play anything free-for-all. It’s as if the song was composed as a mish-mash of licks and riffs linked only by the click-track. Points are most certainly awarded for their extension of abilities, yet for future explorations of this nature, some additional grease may be needed for the wheels.
Still, The Kickback steps back on track with Crawl, Crawl and Game Theory, the latter of which found me frantically scribbling the following: “Reminiscent of a high-speed trek west on I-90 through flat grassland with outstretched airplane hands stopping for a brief break at the Corn Palace which reminds one they should have never stopped there in the first place… ends with a grand view of Black Hills and Badlands” and also “It’s because of songs like this one that Debbie Gibson danced the way she did”.
At this point, even I’ve forgotten what those last two notes actually mean. Yet, I’m about to listen to “A New History” a second time in order to find out. I highly recommend the reader do the same.
4 of 5 stars.
