There’s a KIND of hush...all over the world.Well, at least over the development...ok, at least my house. Goddamn it, over my bedroom, anyway. And apologies to Les Reed & Geoff Stephens who penned the song in 1967 with which I opened this review.The fact is, this is the KIND (stop it, Ray!!!) of album that pushing “play” on would put a hush on anything. That’s because the sheer weight & breadth of the sound would drown any other motherfucker out.
This is actually the 2nd effort from Boston’s KIND and, just like their hometown Red Sox who dispatched the Curse Of The Bambino in 2004, this bunch has flipped a Ruthian-sized bird at the ol’ sophomore jinx. KIND is a quartet composed of: Tom Corino (bass, ex-ROZAMOV), Matt Couto (drums & synth, ex-ELDER), Craig Riggs (vocals & synth, of ROADSAW) & DARRYL SHEPARD (guitars, ex-BLACK PYRAMID). The thing is, with this being a stoner/psych/doom supergroup of sorts, one might be leery of the results having the disjointed, lesser-than-the-sum feel such All Star teams often do. Not to worry folks. Once again, Ripple knows exactly what the hell they’re doing. They sign and promote bands who know how to make a memorable impact.
Sure, KIND is loud, raw and they’re sure as shooting not subtle. Cuoto and Corino start heaving the coals on the rhythm train of “Broken Tweaker” and Shepard opens up guitar chords that sound like a volcanic tar pit overflowing. Riggs roars atop it and you know what? For all the stacks of amplification and dB meters that must be at Pike-ian levels, this music is impossibly catchy. When is the last time you could actually say that about something in this genre? “Sky Valley?” Well, maybe not that far back, but the point is, it’s a genre that can (and lately has) gotten very samey. These homies ain’t playin’ that. Christ, listen to the lumbering Imperial Walker crush of the 7+ minute “Bad Friend.” Then dig the melodies of Riggs’ dreamy multi-tracked vocals, Shepard’s paint-peeling solo and the whole band launching into a ripping headlong shift part way through.
Still, the thing that really shows me how well-written the songs here are is the closing 8 1/2 minute “Trigger Happy.” The song is a slooooowwww (and I mean VITUS-slow) doom fest that by all rights could be boring as sin and yet it is ANYTHING but. That’s because of the striking catchiness of the melody and the dynamics, cherried-on-top by the lurch into a beast boiler of an instrumental section part way through where Shepard snails the wah hard. When’s the last time you had nearly 9-minutes of slow, pounding stoner/doom running through your head all day at work. What more do you need, people? Hush now, invest your cash.
-Ray Dorsey