Review Summary: All we know is sadness
Fresh off the streets of London, the alternative DIY duo Kamikaze Girls come out swinging with their second EP,
Sad. Now in the capable hands of indie labels Bearded Punk and Wiretape Records, Kamikaze Girls attempt to encapsulate feelings of complacency, anxiety, and depression with a relentless record that lends itself towards punk rock flavoring and more delicate, alternative rhythm. Kamikaze Girls strive to strike a balance in finding the energy behind sadness and fear to remind the listener that sometimes it’s “OK” to be sad and afraid.
Unfortunately, however,
Sad finds itself settled in an uncomfortable disposition. Just like clockwork, the record is structured with the passing dial of fuzzy ridden power chords and harshly snarled vocals, then with the flip of a switch passages turn soft; with luscious melodic interludes and spacey atmosphere that eventually finds itself returning to the previous hard biting sound of before. It’s a format that becomes far too familiar before the record’s first track even has time to properly conclude itself; and while this manner of structure isn’t inherently bad, so to speak - Kamikaze Girls simply don’t provide enough alterations in the formula to prevent the record from becoming a one-noted drive full and thorough.
The harsher elements of the record are plain and simple one dimensional affairs. Whilst a promising aspect of a band depending on emotional impact, songwriting is often repetitive and constantly droning. For a track such as "Hexes", the most that can be offered from Livingstone’s performance is a flat, repetitive riff with a grunge-tinged crunch that can only repeat its one note through the course of an entire verse before switching into a completely different, yet equally droning, note at the doorsteps of the track’s chorus. This manner of performance is unfortunately the record’s standard, and with the complete absence of grooves or simple chord changes,
Sad quickly becomes a slog to sit through.
For what it's worth, the record does manage to ever so slightly keep itself afloat in the arms of the duo’s softer elements. Surprisingly enough, these aspects not only provide plenty of breathing from the suffocating, hard sections of the record, but they also offer slight deviations from the formula which manage to be promising hits even in their reserved state. "Stitches" rings as the standout for the record in this regard, as the harsher elements are tucked aside early in the track’s runtime and the duo are allowed to focus their energy on switching up performance for slower paced, yet more layered instrumentals. Meanwhile "I Hate Funerals" presents the hardcore elements in a far more refined, tasteful fashion with a slow moving march beat and heavily punctuated vocal presentation. This results in a smooth, stylistic blend with a smart technical stab in comparison to the rest of the record.
However, with so many bumps for the record it seems almost futile to attempt trudging through the thick waters of the heavily condensed guitar and percussion power work when the payoff is minimal at best. The somewhat gripping emotional depth of the lyricism doesn’t do enough to make the duo’s generally weak songwriting even a tad bit forgivable, simply because of the tediousness of it all. It, just like most of the album, becomes uncomfortable background noise on auto-pilot. Unfortunate as it may be for a band to stumble just after getting back on its feet, as this release marks the band’s first since the departure of their guitarist,
Sad is a record that simply can’t strive on what few positives it carries to its name. While it’s good to be reminded that it's OK to be sad, it's also important to be sad around the things that cheer you up and comfort you during your time of need, and in this case, Kamikaze Girls just aren’t enough.
