A few years ago when the Melvins absorbed Big Business and became a 2 drummer band I was curious to see who else would do the same thing. I wasn’t surprised at all to find out that Kylesa replaced their old drummer with two new ones. What was surprising to me was the results on their 4th and latest album Static Tensions.I had heard some of Kylesa’s music in passing over the years but none of it left much of an impression. I liked what I heard but was never inspired enough to buy an album. Still, I knew I had to check this album out. Any band with 2 drummers or 3 guitarists is something I always need to investigate. Static Tensions is a kick ass record start to finish and one that will appeal to a wide range of people like their music hard and heavy.
Kylesa get compared a lot to Torche and it’s easy to see why. Both bands are brutally heavy yet include a lot of melody and hooks in their songs. Torche’s live shows are an incredible thing to behold but the records sound a little too much like heavy Foo Fighters for my taste. Kylesa’s sound ranges from Neurosis to the heavy distorto pop of New Day Rising-era Husker Du and the slow pummel of Swans.
Oh yeah, and they’re LOUD.The first song “Scapegoat” starts off with the drums. Put on your headphones because there are some great panning effects that makes you feel like your sitting between Eric Hernandez and Carl McGinely’s drum kits. When the band kicks in it’s heavy as hell but also very melodic. The guitars of Phillip Cope and Laura Pleasants are tuned way low but have great definition and never get mushy. They must have spent hours tuning their guitars in the studio. How bassist Javier Villegas manages to hold it all together is very impressive. (Javier only plays on the album, Corey Barhorst is doing the touring).
“Insomnia For Months” continues the barrage. Cope’s harsh screamed vocals are offset with Pleasant’s ethereal counterpart. For a 2 minute song it packs in a lot of riffs and a short Space Ritual jam. I wish more bands would be this economical in their arrangements.There’s plenty of variety to be heard here. Trippy adventures like “Unknown Awareness” and “Perception” will make your head swirl with all the layers of guitars and rhythms messing with your brain. It’s a good thing this album doesn’t come with a strobe light because it would give most people a seizure. “Running Red” is the slowest and heaviest song with an overt Melvins/Neurosis influence. It starts off with solo acoustic piano before kicking into super heavy overdose. This would be a great one to play in traffic. It has a road rage chorus perfect for screaming at the idiot in front of you that keeps jamming on the breaks.
When Mastodon’s Crack The Skye was released a lot of their older fans who were unhappy with it were quick to point out that they preferred Static Tensions. It’s easy to see why. This sounds like the type of record a band like Mastodon would make. The cover art is by John Dyer Baizley of Baroness and the music has much in common with that band as well. They’re both from Savannah, the humidity capitol of Georgia. Savannah is about 3 hours from Macon, GA the home to the Allman Brothers Band museum. I think Butch Trucks should hold a ceremony where he hands the Georgian 2 drummer crown to Kylesa.
--Woody
www.kylesa.com
www.myspace.com/kylesa
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