#193
When I first heard Kay Kay and His Weathered Underground’s self titled LP, I fell in love. The range of sounds this band can pull of is fantastic and none of it seems forced or unnatural. Their self titled LP came out in 2008 and there has been back and forth on when their second album was going to be released for quite a long time. I’m impatient and now that it’s finally here, does it meet those building expectations?
In short, yes. It’s a pretty solid album overall. It took a few listen-throughs to really get the feel of it. The aural palette this album has is pretty large (although somewhat in the same vein) so any one song isn’t the greatest representation of the whole.
KKAHWU (lovely acronym) are experts at creating complex and unique melodies while somehow keeping them catchy and addictive. Headed by Kirk Huffman (also from Gatsby’s American Dream), warming vocals are paired with trumpet, violin, cello, tuba and more. From Big Band sounds to psychedelic, they create a canvas of music that’s colorful and vibrant.
The song I chose is called “Paychecks and Pipe Dreams”. From the beginning it’s got an almost Zappa-ian start with kazoos(maybe?) and picks up into a cheery chant almost like a circus. Yet they still manage to get a fairly accessible structure and the strangeness is well balanced with some more traditional parts. It’s a great balance. This is turning out to be one of my favorite albums this year.
Kay Kay and His Weathered Underground – Paychecks and Pipe Dreams
