K.I.T. – Invocation

L.A.’s K.I.T. are the kind of band that credit their members with “yelps”, “thrashing”, “freakouts” and “feedback” alongside the more standard “vocal / guitar / drums” etc. Invocation is their second album, and the first on Upset The Rhythm in the UK, and it has a freshness and spontaneity about it that sounds very much like a debut release.

The initial impression is of music that is loud and gloriously shambolic. From opening track ‘Merticane’, and on through ‘Ambrosia’, ‘Golden’ and ‘Dreams are Burned’ the band often sound one step away from dissolving into a loud feedback-filled chaos. The mood is at times menacing, particularly on ‘Sharks’, and the aggressive ‘Sunbear’, with its chuggy and ominous bass solo.

Vocals veer from the atonal and disconnected (‘Merticane’) through electronically manipulated (‘Golden’) to angst-ridden screams and yelps (‘Out of Ruins’). They are often deliberately off-key, as on ‘Dreams are Burned’, matching the serendipitous imperfections of the accompanying noise. The music, meanwhile, is – throughout – very much of the stop-start, loud-quiet, fast-slow kind, with the percussion serving less as the backbone to each track and more as a kind of wayward spasm, pulling it unpredictably this way and that.

The band are at their best on ‘Ambrosia’, the vocal sounding slightly sweeter, kinder and therefore more involving than elsewhere but the guitars still screeching in the background; ‘Sharks’, which uses its one-note guitar riff and dramatic scattergun drum rolls and cymbal shimmers to create a palpable tension; and ‘Sunbear’ – short, sharp, to the point. ‘Cloud Chaser’ has some lovely use of glockenspiel, bringing an enjoyable change in texture towards the album’s close, and a more melodious vocal although it ultimately fails to distinguish itself markedly from many of the other tracks. If there is a criticism to be levelled at this album it is perhaps that: many of the individual songs here are quite hard to make out one from the other, with opening pair ‘Merticane’ and ‘Ambrosia’ and next two tracks ‘Golden’ and ‘Cure Light Wounds’ sounding so close to their neighbours in their pick n’ mix style as to lack that distinctiveness that would make them memorable

There is, though, undoubtedly more to love here than hate. The energy, vim and sheer Joy Of Making Loud Noise of the band have been captured in a way that is not always a ‘given’ when recording such music. That you are not left with any singalong tunes going round your head at the album’s close is, surely, beside the point.