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You know how your friends who were quiet at first always
end up being the most interesting ones? One Time Bells
may not stand out the first time you hear it, but it’s the
type of music that improves with multiple listens. I promise
that by the fifth or sixth time, you won’t be able to get
these songs out of your head.
The 11 songs on the French Kicks’ debut are thoughtful
and at times melancholy. Packed with nervous energy, the
drums are like an anxious heartbeat, the keyboard struck with
sweaty palms. It’s not so much a party album as the bookends
for a party, channeling the pre-party giddy anticipation and
the post-party letdown, the disappointment of an evening that
doesn’t go your way. Play the anxious “Trying Whining” while
you’re lacing your Converses and “Wrong Side,” the down-tempo
opening track, (Ended up at home/ on empty with the windows
down) when you’re kicking them off.
The NYC-based foursome is made up of Nick Stumpf (lead
vocals, drums), Matt Stinchcomb (guitar), Josh Wise
(keyboard, guitar), and Lawrence Stumpf (bass). They
separate themselves from the current crop of post punk/new
wave/no wave reinterpreters by picking substance over flash,
making complex songs that are more than just catchy. Every
song is a little different—take the soul-infused “Close to
Modern,” the keyboards-and-harmony New Wave tribute in “1985,”
or the dark atmospheric title track.
With garage-y guitar hooks, “Crying Just for Show” features
Nick Stumpf sounding slightly defeated as he wraps his voice
around quasi-sensical lyrics like And you love all everybody
here/ even when you want some all to disappear. Airy
keyboards, rolling drums, and the Kicks’ trademark vocal harmonies
give “Where We Went Off” a mellow and introspective tone (Falling
into your hands/ into my arms/ is where we went off/ is where
we belong).
The Kicks exhibit impressive control on their music, spare on
tracks like “One Time Bells” and gradually building in intensity
on songs like “Wrong Side.” The keyboard clangs, guitar grates,
bass is gritty, and drums pop. In its best moments, One
Time Bells perfectly balances moody atmospherics and upbeat
hooks.
— Jennifer Conrad
Track List:
- Wrong Side
- When You Heard You
- Down Now
- Crying Just for Show
- Close to Modern
- 1985
- Right in Time
- Trying Whining
- One Time Bells
- Where We Went Off
- Sunday Night Is Fair
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