Kites & Boomerangs

Kites & Boomerangs’ Curiosity

There’s this subset of indie rock that takes a cue from Graceland-era Paul Simon, copping the classic’s world-beat pretensions and sunny melodies to create the kind of bouncy optimistic pop that sounds ready-made for ACL side-stages. Think: bands like Givers and Vampire Weekend (and to a more hacky-sacking extent Rusted Root), and you’ve kind of got an idea of where Arlington/Keller quartet Kites & Boomerangs are coming from.

And yet Kites & Boomerangs are kind of their own thing. Curiosity definitely shares Vampire Weekend’s trebly enthusiasm, but the album sounds more earnest than precious; maybe it’s the DIY bedroom sonics, or maybe it’s the warm, growly bass and rollicking time changes that make this rock more than you’d expect. The jangly guitar lead and reggaeish tom fills of opener “Pastel Sky” skip over a bassline that wouldn’t be offended if you wanted to call it Al. If you can get around the fact that “Mystery Pie” sounds like a reggae song from a third-wave ska band, it’s one of those balmy jams that sounds good when you’re almost too day-drunk to properly grill a steak. “Pie” leads into “Love of Another Kind,” a slow-burning ballad that wouldn’t be out of place on a Josh Weathers album, and “Lady I Like” struts along way tougher than its shimmery guitar tones would have you believe. Same for the groovy, angular cruise of “When I’m with You.” While this sounds like Kites & Boomerangs are all over the map, the genre-hopping and tight musicianship make it a good soundtrack for early evening cruising and late-night after-party dance-offs. –– Steve Steward - Fort Worth Weekly Newspaper

By Steve Watkins

Special to DFW.com
Posted 11:55am on Monday, Aug. 19, 2013

I’ve developed somewhat of a fetish for Sunday night live music in the past few months. I love seeing new acts and getting exposed to music outside of the norm. But when I wandered into Lola’s on Sixth Street on Sunday, I thought I might have missed the whole show.

There were no more than a dozen or so people milling about, and I hit the door just as Douglas and the Furs had finished breaking down their stage after an excellent (so I’m told) set. I did pick up a CD from them, and the little I’ve heard so far sounds good.

My fears were quickly proven unfounded when Kites and Boomerangs started setting up. The band consists of Josh Garcia (guitar, vocals, drums), Donnie Simmons (drums, vocals, bass), Eoin Donovan (bass, guitar, vocals) and William Appleton (guitar, vocals).

I honestly wasn’t sure what to expect from a band named Kites and Boomerangs, but I had heard good things from people I trust. The first drumbeats were electrifying, and although there were only a handful of people in the audience, they had everyone’s attention. The rhythm section drives this train, with a solid and precise drum track from Donnie, and a downright acrobatic bass line from Donovan that seemed to stitch everything together like a veteran trauma surgeon. There was rock in roll in there for sure, and there was some funk and some old-school fusion jazz. We even got a nice touch of reggae from time to time. Vocals were emphatic and harmonious, with each member adding substantially to the sonic fabric.

Halfway through the set, Donnie came out from behind the kit to play guitar, then bass and instrumental roles were out the window.

This band was about so much more than just solid instrumentals. There was real honest-to-God songwriting going one with these guys. I mean, creative breaks, changes, and solos that weren’t just showing off.

At one point we even got a cover of Led Zeppelin’s D’yer Mak’er, but there is no reason for these guys to cover anything. Originals are where they shine. Go see these guys live.
- Star-Telegram Newspaper/DFW.com

The Fort Worth indie-pop quartet Kites and Boomerangs has been playing high-energy shows with its current lineup –– guitarist/vocalist Josh Garcia, guitarist/vocalist Will Appleton, drummer/vocalist Donnie Simmons, and bassist/vocalist Eoin Donovan –– for a little over a year now. Already, audiences have come to expect a little stunt the band pulls off mid-show, sometimes even mid-song: Guitarist Garcia and drummer Simmons exchange instruments. The switcheroo is more than just a lighthearted bit of “rockstar” stage business. It’s emblematic of Kites and Boomerangs’ collaborative approach to music-making.

“None of us are big fans of the whole ‘frontman’ thing,” said Simmons, 25, an Arlington native who went to high school with Garcia and Donovan. “We think it’s mostly a marketing tool. A label wants you to focus on one person because it helps with publicity. [In reality], most of our favorite bands have amazing musicians on every instrument. There are no frontmen [in K&B]. Everybody sings and contributes to the songwriting.”

In fact, Garcia and Appleton share lead vocal duties and write most of the lyrics, with everyone offering melodies, choruses, bridges, and other scraps of tuneage during rehearsals. This deliberately communal, piecemeal process gives Kites and Boomerangs their unpredictable mix of influences. Funk, R&B, reggae, and Middle Eastern sounds all get tossed into a post-punk blender and are sped up and amplified (especially Donovan’s and Simmons’ springing, pulsing rhythms). Not many bands can say they’ve been compared to both The Pixies and Michael Jackson (favorite artists of the K&Bers, by the way), but Kites and Boomerangs hear that all the time.

Eclecticism can make for great music, but it can also hinder a group from finding an identity. Garcia became concerned about that last year after the band released its debut album. More than one critic described Curiosity, which was recorded and mixed during two long sessions at a Carrollton studio, as “all over the place” stylistically. The band agreed and strove for a more holistic approach to composing new material.

Earlier this year the guys released the EP Pandemic, their first recording with newcomer Simmons. Though he’s a classically trained violinist, he has had more experience as a studio engineer than as a performer. At his apartment, he recorded and mixed the bare bones of Pandemic and the band’s second album, Kaleidoscope, set for release this week. K&B finished the album at a small recording studio in Arlington with co-producer Tycer Whaley. Keeping the songs stylistically cohesive was priority number one.

“We wanted all the songs to sound like they came from the same band,” said Simmons with a laugh, “so the writing process was different on Kaleidoscope. You can run into problems when one guy brings a riff to the table, and everyone just builds around it. It sounds too spread out. So we sat down and all started working on the same song at the same time. That way, there were more than one or two pairs of ears at the inception. A song could start off sounding like funk as long we incorporated punk or indie sounds along the way.”

As a songwriting unit, the band is both prolific and impatient –– the guys are already preparing to go back into the studio. The master plan, at the moment, is to release a new EP every six months and an album every year or so while playing beyond North Texas. Simmons thinks he and his bandmates have earned a respectable following relatively quickly –– Kites and Boomerangs’ souped-up, oddball mix of pop, punk, and world music allows the band to fit in pretty much everywhere.

“We’ve played house parties, benefit shows, food festivals, and headlined House of Blues,” he said. “We’ve even played on a roster with metal bands. We’re open to pretty much anything, because you never know what a new experience will bring.” - Fort Worth Weekly