Kids Picked last have had a pretty interesting story over the past year or so, from punk/metal origins to a sound growing out with electronica beats, lasers and glow sticks on all sides. What you’ve probably heard countless times when we’ve covered them is how the idea is a hard one to pull off without any hiccups, but in a studio with the opportunity to refine their ideas and sounds, we can get a glimpse of KPL’s grand schemes with their recently released “Rumours” album.
So, let’s recap on what Kids Picked Last aim for exactly, synths have been all the rage with some bands recently and these guys are one of them, but there’s also the other elements making themselves heard with a mashup of hardcore, metal and punk sounds bridging a few gaps, a formula that’s large and also pretty hard to pull off. But after an electronic intro and the heavy chords break into “Kite Flying” there’s a feeling that the band are more-or-less settled though the transitions between beatdowns and other sections isn’t exactly perfectly smooth.
The tracks mainly seperate into two elements though, with the electronica and the all-out rock which form a bit of a rocky (no pun intended) relationship and it’s how the two mix that usually define how well the rest of the tracks pan out, it’s a delicate balance,“Luced” is where the trance elements come into their own as a bit of an interlude that brings up memories of playing Streets Of Rage 2 on the old Megadrive. Needless to say, with just the synths on the case it comes off pretty much perfect.
But while the whole album isn’t exactly precise, there’s definitely some areas smoother than others and come off really strong. “Pirateze” is one of those cases and seems to strike the most balanced approach with power chords and tranced out beeps making an approach that’s pretty smooth. It’s a relatively simple track with a good breakdown, but it’s tracks like that (also see “Fat People Are Harder To Kidnap” along with it’s Mortal Kombat intro) that merge the rock and trance together and really show what Kids Picked Last are capable of.
Ideas-wise the album is indeed respectable, the amount of sounds Kids Picked last have had in their ranks has always seemed to be what gave the band some great aspirations and also seemed to be a bit of a hurdle to get over, as people say, the more that’s involved, the more that can go wrong. But that’s something the band have been able to deal with in the studio and to see the songs in their current state is a positive sign. But in turn the mixing does seem to suffer a bit in comparison with backing vocals seeming to drown out melody early on along with a few other little nicks along the way. It’s a shame, but it doesn’t make the album unlistenable by any means, and if time and more gigs means an even better sound, then Kids Picked Last are on the right track.
Craig \m/
