Thew new Kaki King album arrived on my doorstep today. Will it be an improvement on her previous album, the flawed post-rock …Until We Feel Red?
The album starts out strong with the instrumental Bone Chaos in the Castle, a nice fusion of her early “tappy-bangy” solo guitar work and the later full band electric, in fact it is my favorite song on the entire album. Which is probably why I found the next song, Life Being What It Is, to be a mostly bleh piece. The drivelish lyrics did not help the cause. Sad American has like a bossa nova feel going on and a catchy guitar hook, but it never really goes anywhere with it. Pull Me Out Alive has a nice driving bass line. Unfortunately she tries to anchor the song with her vocals, and that just does not work. Montreal is a passing waif of an instrumental piece that trips along pleasantly enough, but in the end has nothing extraordinary to recommend it. So Much For So Little brings insistent strings and slide guitars to the party, and that’s about it as it circles around the song’s main theme. Open Mouth is another somewhat chill instrumental track, this time layering up guitar tracks in a big shimmery mass. Saving Days in a Frozen Head starts out with just acoustic and vocals, and then adds on some simple drums and overdubbed vocals. Sadly, once again the song hinges more on Kaki’s abilities and a vocalist/lyricist than as a guitar player. Air and Kilometers brings back the strings to this effects-laden track that spins a shiny sonic web, but doesn’t wow. Can Anyone Who Has Heard This Music Really Be a Bad Person? meanders around first a guitar hook, and then strings with some quasi-post rock drum work going on in the background.
2 O’Clock finishes off the album. More clunkly vocals — have I mentioned I don’t like Kaki’s singing yet? — squanders some nice guitar flourishes; and for all its ills the song ends strong.
What Dreaming of Revenge lacks is the drive that the really great Kaki King songs, Playing with Pink Noise or Ingots, possess. Everything is very low key and kept close to the vest. There are moments when the old spark burns through, but it’s swiftly quashed by some shiny guitar effect. If Kaki were to ditch the singing and focus on her playing I think the end result would be a better album.
But I feel like I am being unnecessarily harsh. In many ways I feel this is a better album than her previous, for instance, despite my complaints I did like the production and the more effective use of layered guitar sounds. It’s a decent enough album, especially if one is in the mood for some chill music, or something to listen to in the background. Personally though, I think Dave Grohl is right, Kaki needs to join the Foo Fighters as Dave’s replacement on guitar.