A pleasant surprise waiting for me in my inbox today, Polaroid Kiss’s Pay Your Dues EP arrives at just the right time to get me grooving as night is about to settle on the Oklahoman landscape that sprawls beyond my window.
With beer in hand, I sink into the sweet oblivion of my headphones as a steady calming beat of the title track burrows its way into my ears. An upbeat and pleasing melody provides the roof for this nearly five minute romp through dance oriented, yet rock influenced pastures, and once it is over I am left with a sense of longing for more that the two remixes featured here simply cannot provide. The second track, an acoustic demo called When the Horses Were King, is a lovely addition that prolongs the life of this EP for a few precious moments longer, but still I want more. So here I sit, once again surrounded by the silence of this hot Oklahoma night, left only with the solace that a full release called Weakness of the Beautiful Souls is somewhere on the 2012 horizon.
Rambling thoughts aside, Polaroid Kiss is a left field hook to my ear canals that is neither over bearing nor understated. A cool blend of electronic effects and modern rock, Pay Your Dues is an EP that does exactly what it is meant to do: feed you a morsel of what is to come, and lead you by the nose to the Promised Land.
Brandun Reed, the mastermind behind this project, has his feet set in the dance floor, yet he has his heart firmly entrenched in rock as well, as the chorus illustrates when it states “pay your dues to rock and roll”. So we should, and so I shall by listening to this and whatever you bring my way next when the album arrives.
Highly recommended.
--Audio Renaissance