Karmella's Game
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Karmella's Game

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"Featured Review"

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Karmella’s Game
The Art of Distraction
Speedbump
In recent years, The Sounds have consistently impressed me with their unforgettable melodies and synthesizer-heavy rock riffs that are equally enjoyable on the first and 21st listens. Perhaps it’s a Scandinavian thing, as many of my favorite artists hail from Sweden and Norway, or does national origin have nothing to do with Maja Ivarsson and company capturing me instantly and repeatedly? Either way, I’m a dedicated fan of both albums by The Sounds. With their debut album, The Art of Distraction, the four Baltimoreans who make up Karmella’s Game offer welcome and worthy competition to Ivarsson and her mates.

When I last reviewed a record by Karmella’s Game, it was the impressive EP What He Doesn’t Know Won’t Hurt Him in April 2004. As strong as that work was, The Art of Distraction raises Karmella’s Game to new heights with improvements on already significant skills and talents. Lead singer and keyboardist KTO delivers dynamic vocals cleanly and passionately on the album with emphasized synthesizers that serve as an instrumental background voice. As to the actual human voices supporting KTO, Mandy Koch (bass), Joe Ostrosky (drums), and Damian Nopolus (guitars on this album, replaced since then by Aaron Smith) harmonize beautifully within and outside of their instrumental performance.

The opening track, “Diversions,” speeds along siren-like synthesized loops as power-pop beats pound out an unspoken directive to move the feet. The slowed pace and male vocals near the end of the song give it a classic early-80s European pop feel. “Skip the Funeral” alternates tempo and vocal styles, with KTO embracing the high-pitch typical of speedy punk-pop but also demonstrating her ability to confidently handle longer uninterrupted choruses. “Cyberspace Lip Gloss” recalls No Doubt in rhythmic structure and lead vocal performance. Ostrosky and Koch brilliantly guide the song through an aural roller coaster. No disrespect to KTO and Nopolus, but “Cyberspace Lip Gloss” is a major victory particularly for the rhythm section.

As The Art of Distraction proceeds, Karmella’s Game demonstrates a mastery of styles ranging from late-70s new-wave to mid-80s pop and early-21st-century post-punk. “A Lullabye” is the band’s greatest song on record yet, a perfect combination of mild aggression, confident feminine in-your-face lyrics, magnetic female-male harmony, and a combination of tempered beats and emotionally inspiring low-key synth-pop. Slower tracks like “The Remains” and the album closer, “Symbiosis: The Great Machine,” emphasize KTO’s vocal range and the band’s ability to create and convincingly perform synthesized torch songs. There is nothing contrived here; the emotion is raw, the lyrical sentiments honest, and the blend of voices and instruments much more interesting than most similar offerings these days.

With a few more four-minute rockers driven by keyboards between the aforementioned songs, Karmella’s Game tackles relationships, “Safely Negative” tests, and communication difficulties. “One Phone Call” is the most striking connection to the What He Doesn’t Know Won’t Hurt Him EP from two years ago, the simple repeated chorus of the track title recalling the earlier, less sophisticated songs of Karmella’s Game - enjoyable in their own right but not as permanently affecting as what the band offers via The Art of Distraction.

It’s refreshing and rewarding to hear how much Karmella’s Game has developed since its notable recording debut just a few years ago. The Art of Distraction is an exciting, emotionally substantive album from a band that goes from strength to strength. This is top-10 work, ladies and gents. My advice: start playing Karmella’s Game now to avoid feeling like the late-coming loser.

-Sahar Oz
09/07/06 - Delusions of Adequacy


"9.0 out of 10.0"

Karmella's Game have been crafting a very refreshing blend of indie-rock, synth-rock and pop in the burbs of Baltimore since 2002. Katie Ostrosky aka KTO (vocals/keyboards), Mandy Koch (vocals/bass), Joe Ostrosky (vocals/drums) and Aaron Smith (vocals/guitar) make up this high-energy quintet. The comparison I love is that of Debbie Gibson fronting the Rentals. If this comparision makes no sense, let's try this. Think of a great pop band, like the Beach Boys and then add in the flare and punk rock energy of early Weezer. No, Karmella's Game doesn't sound like any of these bands, but maybe this will help give you an idea of what kind of music they create. Anyways, I have been fortunate enough to catch this band's live show over a dozen times. I haven't been disappointed, and I certainly wasn't disappointed with their latest offering "The Art of Distraction."

If you're looking for a record that will keep your ears asking for more, this is it. If you're looking for a record that has beautiful three and four-part harmony vocals, this is it. If you're looking for a band that writes intelligent, clever and catchy indie-rock/synth rock music, Karmella’s Game is your band.

All nine tracks on "The Art of Distraction" are golden. The drums roll in and “Diversions” kicks off. A song about the loss of one’s identity, the floating high-hat and catchy guitar riffs let the listener know this song and the album in its entirety is going to be an urgent affair. “Skip the Funeral” punches in next, the musical journey that is “The Art of Distraction” is just beginning. In this song, KTO sings “Can’t slow down or we will stop completely,” which could be looked at as self-reminder to herself and to the band.

Like any great rock band, Karmella's Game has had to endure their fair share of adversity, from wrecking their van on tour in 2004 to having members quit right before a tour. During the fall of 2005, Karmella's Game faced yet another crisis. Their guitarist quit the band. They went through try-out after try-out looking for the right person. No one seemed to fit, and things were looking grim. Would this be the end of Karmella's Game? Would "Art of Distraction" be Karmella's Game's curtain call? Absolutely not. During the holiday season of 2005, Aaron Smith took a flight from Tuson, Arizona to Baltimore, Maryland to try out for Karmella's Game. He was "hired" almost instantly. My only complaint, I wish Aaron would have been a part of the band to help write and record "The Art of Distraction." He's a very talented guitarist and his vocal pipes aren't too shabby either. Bearing all of these events in mind, I think it's safe to say that Karmella's Game won't be slowing down any time soon.

Moving right along, as “Cyber Space Lip Gloss” crashes through your speakers, your ears should perk up. This is the defining song of this album. Everything you could possibly want in a great indie-rock/synth-pop song is here. Beautiful four-part vocal harmonies, crunchy guitar riffs, dancing bass lines, “terminator” style synth lines and pounding drum beats keep this six-minute epic blazing right up until the vocal outro. By the way, the vocal outro is complete ear bliss.

As a side note, Joe O does an amazing job of playing rhythms that compliment the songs beautifully. A lot of drummers simply play too much, in turn making the song sound much messier than it should. On the “Art of Distraction” the drums keep your head bobbing and hands tapping. Trust me, this is much better than having to scratch your head in confusion because you can’t figure out what the drummer is trying to accomplish by over-playing. Don't get me wrong, there will always be a place for chaotic drumming, just not when you're trying to craft indie-pop gems.

“A Lullaby” slides in next and you might feel as though you’ve been thrown back in time. Imagine yourself attending some crazy 1980s dance party. Now imagine everyone’s doing “the Robot” and having a blast. Karmella’s Game wants you to bust-a-move and “A Lullaby” will get you doing just that. Things slow down for a few minutes after the dance party as KTO assures herself everything is going to be all right with her piano driven, bed-time lullaby, “The Remains.” “Just go to sleep and you will feel better. Just get some rest and you’ll be all right,” KTO sings to herself. Is KTO trying to foreshadow something to the listener? It’s quite possible, for the song that comes next is a face-melter, figuratively speaking (DISCLAIMER: Karmella’s Game and Speedbump Recordings cannot be held responsible if you face does, in fact, melt off while listening to this album.) “Revolution” is the heaviest, most angst-ridden song on this record. The 12/8 time signature adds a little extra muscle and KTO’s commanding vocals rocket this song into a realm that most “tough-guy” bands could only dream of accomplishing. Don’t worry, this song still has its fair share of hooks and harmony for you to sing-a-long. My personal favorite - www.emotionalpunk.com


"Art of Distraction Review"

The Art of Distraction is Karmella’s Game’s follow up to their 2003 EP What He Doesn’t Know Won’t Hurt Him. The foursome has an energetic sound with synthesizers that bring you back to the 80s (if you were there for them). I would place them as New Wave-Goth-Pop, though they classify themselves as Indie-Pop-Rock.

I have got to say that it is a bit confusing: so energetic and happy sounding, but then you look at the names of the songs and they reflect something else, something darker – and somehow mechanical and foreboding.

Although keyboard player KTO does the lead vocals, the other three members -- drummer Joe O., bassist Mandy K. and guitarist Aaron – sing on all of the songs. It is not often these days that you can use the term four-part harmonies– I took that from their bio – so there you go, they have four-part harmonies! KTO has a beautiful voice, and with the other members adding to it, it’s great.

Also from their bio, they have been compared to The Cars – and I did hear that – but for me, I really want to say that this is what you would get if you took No Doubt and Evanescence and put them in a blender and threw in a keyboard. It’s poppy, but it is dark; KTO’s vocals lean toward sounding like Gwen Stefani at times, but then maybe they’re even like Amy Lee. Again, although poppy and catchy, there are times where the music is more ambient.

The album starts off with “Diversion” and is followed by “Skip the Funeral,” both of which are upbeat and extremely catchy. You know when you go to a show and there are certain songs that just make everyone move in a particular way? You look around the room and you think “Is this a Jazzercise class?” These two songs would definitely illicit that reaction out of an audience. That same vibe continues with “Cyberspace Lip Gloss.”

The songs slow down from that at the mid-way point with “The Lullabye,” a very soft song. It builds back up again after it starts to rock a bit harder with “The Revolution Will be Cybercast,” a return to the poppy-catchiness heard before on “Safely Negative” and “One Phone Call.” The Art of Distraction leaves off with another softer, somewhat slower song, “Symbiosis: The Great Machine.”

For those of you who have read my reviews before, you know that I am usually not one for slower songs. On this album, I found them greatly appreciated. Though there is nothing wrong with the other seven songs on the CD, sometimes you can have too much of a good thing, and you could say that they were starting to sound a bit the same. The two slower songs helped to show that the band can have range. That being said, I think they could try to explore those ranges a bit more in the future – Jazzercise doesn’t live through the ages.

SCORE: 7.3 - www.twowaymonologues.com


Discography

"What He Doesn't Know Wont Hurt Him" and "The Art of Distraction" are released by Speedbump Recordings.

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Bio

"more hooks than a pirate ship." - baltimore city paper

Energetic, keyboard-driven rock music with four-part harmonies and analog synthesizers. That more or less sums up Baltimore's Karmella's Game, but that'd be a pretty short bio.

Built around a mountain of keyboards, the band features siblings KTO (keys) and Joe O. (drums), Mandy K.(bass), and Aaaron (guitar), the latter having recently moved cross-country for the sole purpose of joining the group. KTO handles lead vocal duties, but all four sing on almost every song. The Charm City based four piece draws comparisons to such acts as The Rentals, Reggie and the Full Effect, The Anniversary, and even The Cars, but ultimately builds a synth-rock/power-pop sound that is all their own.

With their new album, The Art Of Distraction, the band has finally found the perfect sound. Building on the foundation heard in their 2003 debut EP What He Doesn't Know Won't Hurt Him, the album takes Karmella's Game's sound to the next stage, featuring a level of songwriting craftsmanship that is all too rarely heard in today's musical scene. This is evident on such sure-fire hits as A Lullabye, Skip the Funeral, and Safely Negative, to name just a few. From the first note to the last your toes will be tapping, and the play button will inevitably be pressed again and again.

A band that must be seen live to be truly appreciated, Karmella's Game wins over virtually every audience they perform for. Heads bob, hands clap, and spontaneous dancing breaks out virtually every night as they play hit after hit. They've toured all over the eastern half of the country, and have been fortunate enough to share the stage with lots of amazing bands, many of which you may have heard of.

But really, you should just listen to one of the songs, and decide for yourself.