Albums

Kill It Kid - Kill It Kid

Nick Lewis 05/10/2009

Rating: 3.5/5

The eponymously titled debut album from British Americana/blues/folk/rock group Kill It Kid is truly a record of two halves, the second being much better than the first.

That's not to say that the first half is bad, not at all. It's just that this band are still young and coming to terms with their stunning potential. They present an incredible melting pot of ideas and styles, taking in the sounds of the bayou, the blues, bluegrass, Zeppelin, Gomez and almost neo-classical high drama rock. The reason the first half pales in comparison to the second is that there is too much of the latter. They often sound like a cross between dirty blues bar band and the Dresden Dolls, and it doesn't quite work when they're going all out, in particular, they seem to have a penchant for dramatic stop/starts that tends towards preposterous.

When they allow themselves some space however, particularly on the stand-out trio Private Idaho, My Lips Won't Be Kept Clean and Troubles of Loretta, along with spellbinding closer Taste The Rain, Kill It Kid are really something special; boasting that peculiarly British understanding of American music and led by two exceptional voices in Chris Turpin and Stephanie Ward - the former sounding like a husky Antony Hegarty (if you can imagine that), the latter a gin-joint Suzanne Vega.

When these guys are good, they're really good. When they camp it up, they're still pretty good. If they stick to what they show on the second part of this album with its dazzling array of ideas and sublime use of space and contrast, Kill It Kid could really go far.

Much like their peers (Orange Unsigned Act favourites, and remarkably similar) Hijak Oscar: one to watch out for.

Release date: 05.10.09