| Artist: | The Incredible Kicks |
| Album: | Ineffective Lullabies |
| Title: | Last Person Alive |
| Year: | 2012 |
| Track number: | 6 |
| Total tracks: | 7 |
| Disc number: | 2 |
| Genres: | Rock / Pop |
Liner notesTravis Hair - Vocals, Guitars, Keys |
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About the artist
he Incredible Kicks is a progressive pop/rock formation rumbling forth from Brisbane, Australia, and they play better music than you think. Consider a free spirited-, and very maturely assembled EP blending together the following ingredients : Queen, Muse, (they ARE similar in nature, only Queen has more ballZZ and less breakup-breakdowns, courtesy of that random guy, Mercury Whatwashisnameagain??) Pink Floyd, coated in an efficient/elegant psychedelic vibe that reeks the character of Mr. Bungle. Hell, I'm even picking up on a constant, hilarious sidekick-mockery of "Bon Jovish" glam metal traditions in this music, which also serves the builds very well, as it is never presented as THE content - it is presented as the invitation to have an honest, good laugh at the "mere" feel-references, and let me tell you that the lead singer of this band sports top tier lungs any pop singer would kill for secretly. (Some numerous times.) Read on to find more about this delivery, which certainly is worthy of your attention, and especially so if you are planning to catch these guys on tour, - see below - as they are about to set out on one, following the official release date of the EP, which is July, 13. 13 huh. That's the spirit!
"Footprints" strikes a fine balance-, even an elegant blend between Pink Floyd and Muse, not being afraid of utilizing a deliberately bloated/super-rich production ethos, which works surprisingly well in this song. The track is a superb KUDOS! to the Clockwork Orange vibe, in my opinion, and it exhibits a quite mature understanding of the musical languages that it 1. utilizes, 2. makes the diligent kind of fun of, so the adored genres/rhetorics feel good about themselves while being tamely parodied. A great entry!
"Ratings" is more akin to a pretty effin decent early Rolling Stones song, with high capacity lung singing the prime Mick Jagger would be quite happy with, in my opinion. (If Mick Jagger ever had a prime, that is.) Imagine how the psychedelic rock of the '70s would sound if their top-to-bottom essence had possessed a band of hook-fixated - which is a good thing. - angry doom-metalheads in a marshmallow penthouse, and you'll have a hunch of what to expect. The track is relentlessly angry, exigently and hilariously frustrated, and, while being a consistent, solid musical performance, it never takes itself too serious, which is one of its most adorable charms. Another superb entry.
"Ineffective Lullaby" strikes up a psychedelic tone, that, turns out, was lurking nearby all the while. This quasi-titular song spices up the EP with an easily accessible mid-tempo build that registers along the intersection of early The Cure and Britpop synthpop - pardon my French, MADmoiselle. Luckily, the obligatory killer clown vibe which somewhat is inherent to the psychedelic vibe, is presented in an eloquent fashion, with capacity to flatter dark Abba affectations. Pretty b4d455.
"S'lover" is a shorter song, - I just realized "Y" - and I'm a tad saddened about it, because the song is pretty good. It reminds me of Sweden's Eurovision entry from 1980, the Mythic Tomas Ledin's "Just Nu". I would be happy to hear this song on a Scarface soundtrack, too, anytime, anywhere. It brings a particularly strong blend of the DECENT variant of Foo Fighter's music, mixed with concise tints of black synthpop tradition of the '80s. Arnie could wreck flesh to this song in Tech Noir in 1984. Another great entry!
"Last Person Alive" once again reminds me of Muse, but, luckily, this is an angrier kind of Muse with less over-emotive tendencies and zero sentiments shared about any breakups. The song has a more freely spirited framework, with deliberate outposts of tamer sonic intensity embedded in its fabric, and, as such, this is the first song that I would indeed call "progressive" on the release, which does not at all prevent any previous ones to be solid-, even great entries, as you have seen so far.
"Prince Charming" is a decent closure that puts an end to the EP at a high note, leaving you wanting more. That is ONE of the secrets of producing a superb EP, amidst the three secrets of producing a superb EP. The second one is : never tell ALL your secrets.
Position your butt to receive some Incredible Kicks on tour on it, because those Inredible Kicks kick ass without difficulty and/or remorse indeed, and, if you are a regular here at Noise Shaft, - hello, perv! - then you know perfectly well that I'm not telling this at every corner.
Lyrics
The world went silent [quiet]
the day your heart caved in
embrace the new beginning
A chance to shed you skin
How did you feel, was it easy to betray?
So whilst he's looking the other way,
You'll be pretending you're there to stay,
And everyone wins.
Objection will make no difference to me anymore,
Though the signs are confused and obscure
It's difficult not to be sure
That it wouldn't take more than you
To make my dreams come true,
No more than you
To make my dreams come true.
Then the daylight came
to steal the night away
It left us with a smile
with an uncertain goodbye
And i warned you not sing
As it turned into a scream
we watched the curtains closing in
If only you'd listened to me
Im not one for sad goodbyes
but its taken too long and
i wont be changing my mind
its all too clear
I was there to see the last person alive
And it wasn't you