Singles

International Trust - Kiss Kiss Bang Bang

Tim Miller 27/08/2008

Rating: 1/5

Self-styled 'party punks' from Leeds, International Trust's new release precedes their forthcoming debut LP with new song 'Kiss Kiss Bang Bang' bolstered by two previous singles. Previous reviews have heaped remarkable praise on these boys' ability for a catchy melody - all of these comments, however, were clearly forcibly induced under torture, as not one of these three songs has a remotely redeeming feature to speak of.

If Girls Aloud wrote songs for punk pretenders to perform, you'd get something of an idea of this mini-EP's credentials. Diluted punk by numbers, the gritty bark of vocalist Neil Hanson alludes to one too many whiskeys in one too many pub backrooms, while an over-employed stadium synth that sounds anything but grand tracks almost every laboured strain.

'Kiss Kiss Bang Bang' sounds like The Killers sound-checking a throwaway Sex Pistols B-side, the faltering vocal's ring-a-ring-a-roses melody plays tag with the squeaky guitar, while that wishy-washy keyboard cheers on from the sideline. At one point, Hanson bawls, “I went to college/to brush up on my knowledge”. Whilst there, he certainly didn't take any courses in writing rhyming couplets; or in songwriting either. K2B2's three-chord chorus is belittled further by the chorus lyrics: “Go up to the left and to the right then forwards/down to the ground and turnaround and backwards/up to the left and to the right then forwards/that's how it goes kiss kiss bang bang.” I feel like firing those two shots into my own face.

I'll gloss over the rest to save time - you'll be getting the picture by now anyway - remaining tracks 'There's No I in International Trust' and 'Bruce Lee' are equally straightforward; the raucous former is spectacularly uninspiring with its bumbling hook and shouted chorus, the latter, with its base melody shadowed by that bloody keyboard, is ultimately downright cheesy.

There's already a Leeds-based proprietor of brainless party-punk, and despite this lot's NME coverage (another review obviously drawn out at knifepoint), another Kaisers just wouldn't be funny, so I've taken it upon myself to shoot these guys down. Bang bang, you're dead.


Released 18th August 2008.