This week saw the release of Bon Iver’s sophomore LP, Radiohead uploading a previously unheard track onto YouTube, and Jimmy Eat World playing the entirety of Clarity and Bleed American back-to-back at London’s HMV Forum. Individually, these were incomparable and exceptional events in their own right. It would seem unfair to compare Kyte to such a high standard, but on a week such as this I have found it unavoidable.
Dead Waves is one of those albums that has had the needle of my judgement jumping from extremes. At times it was very pleasant; at others they were merely there, but largely it was in that middle ground where they stood. The majority of the songs are very synth-centric, heavily processed drum beats and adorned with Nick Moon’s hushed vocal style on top. And that’s fine, until you come across the stronger ones where the guitar and bass are all brought to the level of synthetic sounds and the drums clearly originate from a kit. A band should always strive for a sound that reflect their strengths and abilities- it makes it all the more disappointing then for Kyte to hint at their best but leave the territory largely unexplored.
Kyte are certainly a capable enough band, and the songs on Dead Waves are indicative of the potential that is there in glimpses and flashes. But on such a musically bountiful week that reminds us how music should be, the album just didn’t have enough to capture the attention for any longer than those all too brief moments.
Song of the album- Fear from Death
–Lyle
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