Kid, You'll Move Mountains

"(KYMM) has a firm grasp on the basic indie-pop formula - chiming guitars, slightly swoony male vocals, some keys floating around here and there. Fortunately, they’re smart enough not to limit themselves to it: Their new self-released CD, Loomings, is full of unexpected zigs and zags, like dizzy psychedelic production flourishes or the occasional chugging guitar, which implies that someone in the band has some Fugazi in their collection among all that Built to Spill. Add to that a high hooks-to-songs ratio and an assured, no-sweat performance, and you’ve got what’s easily the best rock album to come out of Geneva in a minute." -- Miles Rayner

Full story:
http://events.chicagoreader.com/events/Event?oid=931108 - Chicago Reader

"Loomings shows considerable craft and, even more evident, care. These songs were sculpted and kept warm."
-- Tom Lynch

Full story:
http://music.newcity.com/2008/12/30/preview-kid-youll-move-mountainsmetro/ - Newcity

by Jon Graef --

Most projects that start on a whim usually end there, but for the members of Troubled Hubble, what began as a casual desire to play a battle of the bands back in 1999 became six years of touring and four studio albums.

By contrast, Kid, You’ll Move Mountains, the new band—featuring Troubled Hubble’s sibling rhythm section, Andrew and Nate Lanthrum, and former members of El Oso and Inspector Owl—recorded its new debut album, Loomings, over two years’ time. With a Dr. Seuss-referencing name, one might think that KYMM would peddle the same kind of whimsical indie-rock Hubble was known for, but Loomings showcases a more mature, atmospheric, and highly melodious sound. Before the release of "Loomings", Decider spoke the Lanthrum brothers about how the band communicates while writing music and its unglamorous plans after its debut release at the Metro tonight.

Decider:
In a recent interview, your singer, Jim Hanke, said the two of you taught him that “you can be serious and passionate about music while still having fun, and that having fun doesn’t mean you have to be kitschy.” What did you learn from him while recording Loomings?

Nate Lanthrum:
Well, coming from different bands, I think we’ve learned a lot from each other. [This band] has been a learning experience for everybody.

Andrew Lanthrum:
We all come from very different music backgrounds. For example, Corey [Wills, guitar] is really into dance music. Nina [Lanthrum, vocals/piano] listens to a lot classical music, since she’s classically trained. Before, we had songs about airplanes and canoes. I don’t mean to detract from Troubled Hubble, but for this band, I think our sound has gotten a lot more interesting for us.

D:
Some other members of the band have less formal training. Was there any trouble communicating musically?

NL:
Well, since I play the drums, I just kind of make sounds and point at things. [Laughs.]

AL:
Jim and I play purely by ear. Corey has a sort of mixed approach. And Nina is on the other side of the spectrum. So it’s interesting. Jim and I can communicate visually, and Corey will have to translate [the specific chord changes] to Nina. That’s how we play.

D:
KYMM has a more open-ended sound. Did that stylistic evolution from Troubled Hubble come about naturally?

NL:
I think it was pretty natural. We’ve never made a point about sounding a certain way. But I think that weird, atmospheric stuff is what’s really interesting to me right now.

AL:
I’ve always wanted to play music like that. Even in Troubled Hubble, I could never really play that kind of music. This is the closest I’ve been to playing music that I’ve been listening to. I like any kind of music that makes me wonder how they [created their sounds].

D:
In forming Troubled Hubble, you wrote six songs in one week. For this band, you recorded your debut over the course of two years. How has the writing process changed?

NL:
The writing process is harder now because we’re all trying to balance real life.

AL:
For example, recording vocals… We’d have to go in on a work night at 7 o’clock and knock out as many tracks as possible. It’s a much longer process.

NL:
For the last Troubled Hubble record, the EP [2005’s Sir Chenjuns], we had a deadline, we had a budget, and a schedule. I actually really liked that, because this just took forever.

AL:
We renovated our studio, which took a long time. Basically, I had no idea how to operate recording software or anything when we started recording. It was sort of a learn-as-you-go situation. But recording this way, we were able to experiment more.

D:
What made you want to get back into music after Troubled Hubble broke up?

AL:
We didn’t play music for a year [after]. Our friend Matt has a band called The Gunshy, and so he called us up and asked us to play with him. And so, after that, we realized that we really enjoyed playing and wanted to do it again.

D:
What are your plans for after the CD release show?

NL: I’m gonna go back to work… [and] punch the clock.
- The Onion / decider.chicago.com

by Kent Green

Jim Hanke, writer and singer for the band Kid, You'll Move Mountains, has a confession.

"I've never thought of myself as a musician," he said. "I'm just a music geek who happens to play in a band with four super-talented people."

Hanke may need to adjust that perception. The group will celebrate the release of its first full-length album, "Loomings," with a Friday show at the Metro.

The five-piece based in Geneva also includes Corey Wills on guitar, brothers Nate and Andrew Lanthrum on bass and drums, and Nate's wife, Nina Lanthrum, on piano.

The group composes its music first, then Hanke writes the lyrics, which are often punctuated by deft turns of phrase such as "baby, the bath water don't look that deep," from "Wives' Tale." The narrative-style songs are fictional, but include bits of reality from Hanke's life.

KYMM came together in 2006 after most of the members' previous projects had fallen apart. Though some of the old bands, such as the Lathrum brothers' Troubled Hubble, had strong indie followings, Hanke said he's not worried about expectations for the group.

"I really think that we just try and present who we are," Hanke said. "We're not just gonna combine the parts of my bands and your bands and other bands. We wanted to come up with something new. I'm not sure that we've done that ... but it's something completely different, at least for us."

- RedEye

Kid, You’ll Move Mountains shares its labor of love with Chicago
by Genevieve Diesing

Although its name might strongly suggest otherwise, Geneva, Illinois–based indie-pop quintet Kid, You’ll Move Mountains is surprisingly un-idealistic about its future. The group seems content as a handful of suburban kids with day jobs, and isn’t entertaining any grand ideas about where Loomings, its extremely well received and self-released debut, will take it. The refreshing part is, the record very well could take it places. The band toiled for two years over Loomings, resulting in a dense, poetic record that sounds like a labor of love should: rife with emotion; leaving its listeners with the delightful predicament of wanting to simultaneously dance, sing, and listen reflectively.

Scavenged from several Midwestern rock outfits, Kid, You’ll Move Mountains is comprised of brothers Andrew and Nate Lanthrum (on bass and drums, respectively) of the former Troubled Hubble, a group that produced four studio albums on Lookout! Records before its label stopped releasing new records in 2005. It also includes Corey Wills of Chicago’s Inspector Owl on guitar, Jim Hanke of Milwaukee’s El Oso on vocals and guitar, and classically trained pianist Nina Lanthrum (Nate’s wife) on keyboards and vocals. Although the lineup seems poised for greatness, its members aren’t out for retrieving any former glory — they began playing together incidentally in 2006 and have spoken candidly about squeezing in practices between work and interstate commutes. Signing with a label isn’t out of the question, but it’s just not the foremost goal at this point.

That a project so relatively void of hype should be released at Chicago’s Metro might seem like a stroke of luck, one the group didn’t take for granted during its January 2 performance. Andrew Lanthrum slashed at his strings with infectious exuberance, Hanke poured his words into the mic in doubled-over, enlivening screams, and each song’s mounting harmonies seemed to channel directly escalating emotions from the hundreds of fans that packed the venue that night. “This is ridiculous,” gushed Hanke, visibly touched by the crowd’s outpouring of support.

Songs such as “Wives Tale” showcased the group’s ferocious percussion section, with Nate Lanthrum’s beats taking their own unpredictable and captivating directions. As evidenced on Loomings, Nina Lanthrum’s clear-as-glass voice was sharp and riveting during her duets with Hanke, and retreated seamlessly into beautiful, harmonious choruses.

Though preceded by some visibly hard-working openers, such as the theatrical Pool of Frogs and energy-charged the Sapiens, Kid, You’ll Move Mountains was clearly the most thrilled to be there, as well as the most warmly welcomed. Though it’s anybody’s guess what the future holds for this clearly talented group, the charm of Kid, You’ll Move Mountains, is, it’s not overly concerned.

Full story:
http://venuszine.com/articles/music/live_reviews/4946/Kid_Youll_Move_Mountains_shares_its_labor_of_love_with_Chicago - Venuszine

by Jason Behrends

Truly independent music has an urgency that you don't always find in major label or even indie label releases. Perhaps it is the fact that the band has something more substantial invested or that they are more focused on each step of the process, but as you listen to the debut album from the suburban band Kid You'll Move Mountains you can feel that urgency. Formed from the ashes of Lookout! Records Troubled Hubble, KYMM has been playing together locally since 2006. Members Jim Hanke, Corey Wills, and Nina, Andrew and Nate Lanthrum, see 2009 as their opportunity to launch their sound and their new self-released album Loomings into the national eye.

Loomings is a mixture of the indie pop and alt-country with the kick being the alternating vocals by Jim and Nina. When the two trade off lead vocals, as in the lead single "Volts", the results are, well... electric. In other songs like "Inside Voice", the two lay their melodies over an aggressive bed of piano pop.

Full story:
http://gapersblock.com/transmission/2008/12/29/kid_youll_move_mountains_cd_re/
- Gapers Block

“Oh, The Places You’ll Go” is one of the most inspiring children’s book every written, and it is with that same energy and passion that suburban rockers Kid, You’ll Move Mountains released their debut album, Loomings.

For a self-released album it is extremely professional in sound and appearance, and the fact is it could have been released on a label. Yet, like many independent bands they wanted to get their music out there quickly and let it spread. With a sound that cuts straight to the roots of rock, they may just mountains and go to places they had only dreamed of.

Recently, the band was kind enough to answer a few of my questions and you can read the full interview here:

http://www.thedelimagazine.com/chicago/artists/kidyoullmovemountains/ - Deli Magazine

"We like bands with inventive names. We like bands that play with energy on stage even though their sound could lend then to a much mellower style. Kid, You'll Move Mountains is a band that impressed us from the get-go when we heard them for the first time, both outdoors and live... Edgy indie-rock, but not dirty. Actually, highly polished, and behind the precise instrumentation and sirenesque vocals, KYMM moves back and forth between the lovely and the large."
- Avant/Chicago