IRONIC SONGS is the latest album by prolific shitcore group Kevin and the Bikes. But is it good?
So for those of you blissfully unaware, Kevin and the Bikes is a band that rose to prominence last year with their 4 hour, 101 track album featuring songs about kevin from ed edd and eddy, and subsequently a 25 track cut down version which i spent a good while singing the praises of a few weeks ago. But when I heard they were departing from the Kevin gimmick in their latest record, I was fairly skeptical- visions of other comedy musicians slipping into a more serious realm (a la Joji) gave me a bad feeling, so I hesitantly waited to see how the record would sound.
The record opens with an old timey radio sample before some familiar slightly dirty guitars are joined by some nice synthesisers. The vocals are spoken word, and utterly sarcastic and sardonic. The chorus is this drunk ramble-ly sing along, and the drums are really really good too. It ends on a screamy, noisey blow out. It works way better as an album opener than as single. Second track PARTY HARD is a continuation of the first track, but with more noise, more irony and less aim to be listenable to whining feedback, before a punky section ends the track, but not before a whiny warble.
Third track ONE NIGHT TO MAKE YOU WISH IT WAS FOREVER opens with some acoustic guitar which contrasts nicely against the noise from the first two tracks. But of course it isn't left alone before it's joined by some drums and noisey guitar. The vocals ramp up until they end up screaming, before the track resets itself to the acoustic and does it all again, which is probably what the title signifies. The last half is owned by this wall of noise that drowns the screams of the vocalist out entirely, and the track then bleeds into the 4th track and second single TURBULENCE, which again works way better on the album than it does a single. The track is characterized by this My Bloody Valentine-cross- Guided By Voices fuzzy guitar riff. The vocals are shouted and the choruses are brilliantly noisey. The lyrics evoke the feeling of being a twenty-somethings loser, with lines about following marijuana vapor and feeling like shit.
MY MARROW is largely a vibe piece, led by an acoustic guitar before being joined by reverby drums and atmospheric synths, The track evokes Guided By Voices classics like Goldheart Mountaintop Queen Directory with it's vocal style, but I think the track still carves out it's own space with the rhythm section. It's followed by the instrumental track THE ONLY UNIRONIC SONG which is based around this bassy, distorted piano section that almost sounds like percussion hits at points thanks to it's sheer size. The electronic atmosphere evokes Wilco's LESS THAN YOU THINK with it's whining, buzzing sound. It's a good palette cleanser for the first half of the album, and thankfully doesn't go on for as long as the Wilco song either.
The record picks up again with GOD'S ORIENTATION, which is largely acoustic guitar and heavily reverbed vocals, with a few wailing vocal harmonies bridging parts of the song, as well as carrying it out. It's one of the less obvious cuts on the record, but still good. SPOKOYNOY NOCHI is a supershort 60's-esque acoustic ballad, with a couple electric flourishes here and there.
Penultimate track SALAMIA is the longest track on the album at about 5 minutes long, and is characterized by some more dirty guitar, moody vocals and really good drum work. The vocals all over this track are great and the lyrics are well written to match. The tracks builds until the noisey wall of sound climax that feels like a brilliant release of tension that the song, and the album, has been building up as it's continued.
I FUCKED UP its an acoustic track again, but with some quirky pots and pans percussion. It could easily be a track about not cashing in on the potential of the KATB as much as about any actual person, and sends the record off in a really nice way. It feels like it manages to answer any questions a listener might have had left at the end of the record, which I guess is what a good closer does.
So overall I was definitely pleasantly surprised by the record- it didn't have any business being this solid, demonstrating proficiency in many areas of musical craft, from production to lyricism to instrumentation, the album shows that Kevin and the Bikes is more than capable of making unironically good songs. Check it out!
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