So I've mentioned kind here on a few different occasions but haven't gone into great detail. They're a five-piece band from the Akron, Ohio area and sound something like Neil Young & Crazy Horse meeting Sonic Youth with an industrial drummer crushing everything in it's path. In other words, SIMPLY AWESOME!
The first things some people point out about the band is that three of its members were in Dink, an industrial/dance/rock band also formed in the Kent/Akron area in the nineties who grabbed fame with their hit single, Green Mind, and their self-titled debut. They also point out the similarity between band names, kind vs. Dink. Next, many assume there must be a further connection between the bands, as if kind was the logical progression from Dink. They would be wrong though, as the D word is rarely spoken by members of the band and their sound couldn't be further from that of Dink. Gone is the electronic/industrial sheen, replaced by vocalist/guitarist Teresa F. Bosko's hauntingly poetic voice and songs, as she is the primary songwriter. Sean Carlin, on guitar and occasional vocals, brings the noise with Steve Gang, also on guitar and vocals, going off like Pee Wee Herman possessed, all the while backed by Jeff Finn holding it down on bass and Ed VanDerKuil destroying everything in his path via his drum kit.
After hanging with the band at a rehearsal and recording session, I was asked if I wanted to come see the band play live. They didn't need to ask twice, but I couldn't get to their first official show in 2009, so this past Saturday I went down to Akron's Musica for a night of rock. They were joined by opener Collideascope and co-headliner, Full Wave Rectifier, which features ex-Dink vocalist, Jer Herring.
Not to be cruel, but Collideascope were weak. Not much in the way of melodies or changes was displayed by the group, although they had a full-blown merchandise table they didn't even use. On the other hand though, Full Wave Rectifier kicked ass! You can find more about them at their myspace site and I'm definitely grabbing some of their releases very soon. They even went so far as to perform an awesome rendition of Dink's Green Mind with Bob Serpentini samples to boot! Full Wave Rectifier are probably easiest to describe as indie, but their sound is full of pop and punk influences.
kind took the stage around eleven and shook the house with their Cowboy Song, which starts off slow moving to an eventual whiplash pace. I recognized most of the songs from previous hearings, but they seemed to take on a new energy with Ed's percussion being so tight and the band sounding purely on fire. Teresa's vocals are almost like a conversation, as if she's telling you what she's seen and you're her confidant. Her voice reminds me of Tori Amos, not saying that Teresa sounds like Tori though, but rather that she exudes a power and confidence which strikes you without the need to scream or yell, although she sounds just as mighty when she does get loud. For instance, during In The Passing Lane With Neil Young, she sings about what sounds like the final days during the end of the world as we or at least someone knows it. She never forces it down your throat, rather she quietly grabs your attention as the band creates a storm of a performance, though no matter how loud they are you're always focused on what she has to say, and she sounds so sure of every word.
Teresa doesn't completely handle the vocal duties, as Steve takes the mic on three songs. His vocals remind me of Devo's Mark Mothersbaugh on overdrive, or as I mentioned earlier, a darker, crazier Pee Wee Herman. During the Dog/God song he went buckwild about nuns and religion, and Creepy Crawly is like a psycho take on the Velvet Underground's Waiting For My Man. Apart from Steve's jump to front and center, the only other vocals were provided by Sean on the sole holdover from the Dink days, The Heroin Song, now a stompingly angry love/sex letter with a needle in it's vein. The band finished off with Your Favorite Song, featuring a furious vocal from Teresa letting everyone know they shouldn't mistake kind's music for anyone else, although I don't know if anyone could mistake their sound for another band. That's a compliment by the way!
Right now, the only sampling I can provide you of kind's sound is what they have on their myspace page. Sean let me know that these are rough mixes and that more complete mixes have been made since, they just haven't been uploaded yet. Hopefully, if they don't put them on the myspace page, they will be available elsewhere, maybe even here, but for now you should check these versions out ASAP! And if you're liking what you're hearing, drop them a line and let them know, they will appreciate it. Better yet, see them live next time!
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