Kick Evrything

By Alex Hudson, September 23, 2010
Kick Evrything
Stay In/Slow Now (Party Hat)

If you think the title of Stay In/Slow Now means that Kick Evrything has mellowed since releasing its debut album last fall, that misconception will be dispelled the instant you hit Play. The 11-song collection kicks off with “Motion Man”, an unsettling mix of squalling electronics and computerized beats, over which singer Casey Wei gasps and howls like the art-school spawn of Karen O.

Things only pick up from there: “Winter Feet” begins with a quirky disco boogie before exploding into jagged start-stop breakdowns, while “Patience (Just Might Hurt You)” transforms from a tuneful, mid-tempo rocker into a yelping freak-out in barely a minute and a half. Even better is the dance-floor-ready “Wanna Do”, which sets hypnotic mantras like “It didn’t work/Big deal” against a kraut-rocking minimalist pulse.

While Kick Evrything’s early recordings were a mixed bag of stylistic mashups and stream-of-consciousness experimentation, Stay In/Slow Now favours songcraft over eclectic sonics: the band mostly sticks to angular, keyboard-heavy postpunk, meaning that the album sounds like a cohesive whole instead of an assortment of demos.

Still, this newfound sense of purpose doesn’t mean that Kick Evrything has lost its sense of adventure. “We Most Certainly” eschews raucous noise for gentle synth blips and Wei’s restrained coo, her voice scarcely above a whisper as she sings, “I’m here hiding/Come find me.” Meanwhile, “1955” is effectively chilly mope rock, its ghostly breakdown evoking Radiohead or Liars at their most gloomy. Winners like these show that, for this vowel-omitting trio, focused songwriting is even more exciting than oddball experimentation. - The Georgia Straight

The album starts off with a slow-burning, soulful yearning, lo-fi, blues muted-strummer that really sets the tone of the whole project. I don’t mean to give the impression that all nine songs sound anything like ‘Dusty’ though, as that couldn’t be farther from the case. Quite the contrary, each song on the album is wonderfully crafted to sound much different from one another while maintaining a central cohesion that’s really quite a pleasant surprise. It shouldn’t work, but it really, really does.

So how are the songs different? Well to point out a few truly stand-out tracks: ‘Tail End’ completely captures the spirit of mid-1990’s Justine Frischmann / Elastica / Brit-Pop. “Why complain to me?” asks lead singer Casey Wei in a bored but at the same time ultra cool voice, “I’ve got dead eyes and they know that you know it’s over.”

‘We Need the Money’ is one of my personal favourites for the fact that it could just as easily been included on Nirvana’s MTV Unplugged album. It’s dark, throaty, acoustic guitar grunge and the real treat here is that Paul Kajander steps up to the mic with a raspy-voiced accompaniment that rolls perfectly with Casey’s lead vocals. I’d definitely like to hear even more of Paul’s voice on the next set of recordings. And is that a clinking bottle on percussion?

The real highlight of the album though, is the six minute, seventeen second supernova that is ‘Clamour, Clamour, Clamour’. I’ll put it right on the table and say that I generally grow tired any song that rolls much over four minutes. I get bored if there isn’t something interesting going on and by the four minute mark, I tend to lose patience altogether. This track, however, is a marvel of phenominal songwriting combined with an extraordinary vocal performance, all topped off with clever and exciting instrumentation. I’m constantly astounded at what innovative and talented musicians can do in their living-rooms with a bare bones setup and this song is a classic example of what’s possible. If you’re not immediately hauled in by the carnival-esque organ that runs the length of the track, you may not have a pulse either (not good). Casey’s vocal inflections alone in the lines “Your feet get lost they don’t wanna be found, stuck inside the city square, good luck in the city my dear.” are as exciting and unexpected as the music that accompanies. I don’t know if this is the best song I’ve heard all year, but it might well be.

I could go on and on about how great this album is (the vocal sweetness of ‘Start Now’, the electro-trash danceparty ‘In Between’, the alternative-weirdness of ‘Cake Won’t Work’…) but I’ll leave it to our readers to find a copy for themselves at Zulu, Red Cat Records, or good ol’ iTunes. This I is Demented and Possibly Deceased is an absolute success of an artistic endeavour and hopefully we’ll hear a lot more from this band in the very near future.
- Ian Explosivo, The Aural Kinetic Nov 11 2009

It's hard to jump into a review of Vancouver's Kick Evrything without being tempted to lead with an easy and obvious sounds like. Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know I constantly bitch when critics get lazy and take the obvious route (see how I did that?), but truth be told I don't like the band that is constantly throw around when describing the unique and unsettling sounds Casey and Paul are creating and relying on that descriptor would mean I didn't like Kick Evrything either.

And on paper, maybe I shouldn't, but the more I soak in This I is Demented and Possibly Deceased the more I enjoy it. The whole record sounds like it was recorded on Radio Raheem's boom box (note: this would be awesome and some band needs to make this happen), almost as if the sounds were bursting from the duo and not even time or money could stop KE from getting their music out. Stomping through lo-fi blues, swirling hippie freak folk, banged out synth driven tracks and fuzz filled ambiance, the thirty minutes has just enough sex appeal, grit, snot and washed out sun to keep you as interested as you are uncomfortable.

Casey has the presence you need in a front woman, and the band shows they can move freely across countless genres without sounding lost or unfocused. Even as they float from stomped out blues to a pseudo 90's/alterna-pop number (Dusty -> Tail End) or crank the noise and energy back up for the heavy tail end of the record (Buck and Fun certainly find the LP concluding on a spirited high), they keep it together nicely, which helps you stay with the band when they drift farther away from anyone's comfort zone.




http://www.herohill.com/2010/04/quick-hitters-kick-evrything-this-i-is.htm - Bryan Acker of HeroHill

Sometimes, the best advice is the simplest. I was having a bit of writer’s block as I sat down to write a post about Vancouver duo Kick Evrything, struggling to find words that would translate the music, so I sauntered over to the band’s Myspace page. For some reason, I’m always interested in what artists put in that quirky quote part beside their pictures. Often times they’re just boring one liners like “New Album Out Now!” but occasionally I find a precious gem of perception. Kick Evrything’s quote was short and to the point: “shut up and shake.” So I did.

You might be quick to classify them as electro-dance-rock a la You Say Party! We Say Die! but Kick Evrything’s shimmy is much more interesting than their shake. Instead of dancing around the living room, I found myself standing and listening to the subtle little nuances in the music, like the way the synths sparkle on “Radarapy” or the neo-garage rock nugget “Nothing Reason” that’s over way too soon. The bass groove on “Freakin’” is slinky and sexy and would fit perfectly as the soundtrack to a Taratino dance number. It reminds me of a dancier White Stripes, if such a thing could actually exist. Kick Evrything’s shake turns out to actually be more of a slow grind, and that’s one dance I could easily learn the steps to.

All of these tracks and more will soon be available on Kick Evrything’s second disc, Stay In/Slow Now (release dates will be forthcoming). The band’s debut, This I is Demented and Possibly Deceased was released last year on their own Party Hat Records and they’ll be crossing the country to play in the East this August.


http://www.quickbeforeitmelts.com/2010/04/theres-a-lot-to-be-said-about-freakin-out/ - Jim Di Gioia of Quick Before It Melts

Remember a couple years ago, when a bunch of Karen O’s demos leaked online? It seemed like a really exciting idea at first, but the disc didn’t contain as many actual songs as it did random sound doodles.

Vancouver’s Kick Evrything is what you wish those demos had sounded like. This genre-mashing, vowel-omitting duo has found an unlikely common ground between fuzzy blues, sun-scotched folk and jarring electro punk. The opening track off the band’s album This I Is Demented and Possibly Deceased is called “Dusty,” and it’s the bluesiest tune of the lot, a lo-fi acoustic stomp that comes off a bit like a Dead Weather song recorded over an answering machine. - Alex Hudson of Chipped Hip

Kick Evrything
Dusty (Party Hat)
Against a canvas that’s part rural America and part drunk Tom Waits in the junkyard, Kick Evrything singer Casey Wei clocks in with a performance that’s dripping with equal amounts of sex and boredom. - The Georgia Straight's Instant Playlist

Synth-drenched fuzz rock and acoustic folk don’t normally go hand in hand, but try telling that to Kick Evrything. The group’s full-length debut, This I Is Demented and Possibly Deceased, is bound to infuriate genre purists and grammarians alike, as singer Casey Wei and multi-instrumentalist Paul Kajander veer between stylistic extremes, sounding a bit like they got stranded somewhere on the road between Memphis and Brooklyn.

Opener “Dusty” is a backwoods blues stomp, its ultra lo-fi acoustic riffs rattling against a beat that consists of little more than claps and tambourine hits. The band subsequently ditches this front-porch sound for electric guitars and drums on the woozy rocker “Tail End”. Elsewhere, “Cake Won’t Work” is a twisted foray into new wave, its sugary keys and searing feedback setting a disorienting backdrop for a singsong refrain of “Birthday, birthday, birthday party”.

It’s a bizarre mishmash of styles, but it never comes off as disjointed, mainly thanks to Wei’s enigmatic vocals. She alternates between a raunchy gasp and fragile croon, and she apes Karen O so convincingly that you’ll probably be able to trick your friends into thinking this is a collection of Yeah Yeah Yeahs outtakes.

Her lyrics, meanwhile, are surreal and free-associative and sound like she hit record and sang whatever came to mind; you won’t be able to make much sense of a line like “My hair is a coffin holding in air” (from “Clamour Clamour Clamour”). Still, like everything else on the album, the weirdness is compelling enough to keep you coming back for more.

- Alex Hudson - The Georgia Straight