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aRTiST...: Kicker
aLBUM....: Not You
gENRE....: Punk
lABEL....:
lANGUAGE.: English
yEAR.....: 2012
cATNR....: N/A
sOURCE...: CDDA
riP.dATE.: 04.11.2021
sTR.dATE.: 11.13.2012
eNCODER..: FLAC 1.3.1
sETTiNG..: compression-level-8
qUALiTY..: 998 kbps Avg Stereo
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01 Kick Off 01:41
02 Walking Headache 01:26
03 Not You 02:46
04 Wrong Things 01:56
05 Crusty Island 02:16
06 Two Hats 02:14
07 Innit 02:24
08 Broke 05:31
09 Razor Chaos 02:36
10 I Think You're Shit 01:14
11 Lager And Chips 01:51
12 Insufficient Funds 02:12
13 Keep Walking 00:44
14 Bored 04:02
tOTAL siZE.: 14 Files/236,09MB/32:53 min
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The pedigree behind creation of art drives the
meaning of the subject as much as the subject's own
expression. For example, Morrissey famously declaring
"I have forgiven Jesus" yields a wildly different
meaning than were say, Brian Fallon, to say it, even
if the words themselves are exactly the same. And,
even if you were to quarantine the creators from the
art, and focus on the product itself, the separate
meanings behind the identical phrasings takes form
through expression and even vocal inflection, which
itself yields volume of information through timbre,
volume and tonal quality alone. What makes Kicker's
first LP, Not You, so amazing is that the pedigree of
the band ignites an already fiery performance and
makes it explode.
Any mention of Kicker has to mention the new-ish
band's membership. Namely, on vocals is Pete the
Roadie, who for the past 30-odd years has roadied for
everyone from the Subhumans, to Amebix, to
Chumbawamba, to Fugazi, to Jello Biafra, to Neurosis.
But, he's more than just a roadie. Involved in punk
from the beginning, Pete is a walking history book.
Between his spiked hair, genuine cockney accent,
locket necklace, ubiquitous patched jacket and nearly
60 years of age, the man exudes the energy,
excitement, rebellion and fun of the earliest punk.
Likewise, the band itself has a vaunted history,
though it somewhat stands in contrast to Pete.
Whereas Pete is an English expatriate, the band is
entirely American. Guitarist Dave Ed plays in drone-
metlal legends Neurosis as well as the spikier (and
nastier) Jesus Fucking Christ. Bassist Mauz played
bass in doom/crust metal legends Dystopia, who drove
punk into an even deeper, nastier, grinding
territory. Drummer Toby played in Filth, one of the
U.S.'s earliest, and fiercest, crust punk bands.
It's important to roll call the band because their
personalities and history electrify the album. Not
You is rooted in UK82 sounds. Thick, choppy riffs
energetically smash through the album while Pete
howls over top about being broke, being bored, being
old and being drunk. But, frankly, and perhaps
blasphemously, while this album is as good as the
classic slabs by the UK Subs and GBH (or maybe even
better) it's not pure old-school aping. While the
music is based on the simple, powerful riff, because
the band themselves come generally from a crust and
experimental background, the band hides darker,
sludgier sounds underneath the driving riffs which
gives the album an uniquely American heaviness, but a
uniquely British energy.
While Dave Ed pounds out a simple, but effective
three chord riff on "Innit," bassist Toby slides a
sewer-like screech underneath that instead of
detracting from the rhythm, gives it a dangerous, and
uniquely stimulating edge. On "Walking Headache" the
strings crash down like massive crust walls, but
drummer Toby keeps driving the song forward in an
almost-classic rock, which makes the song both heavy
and frantic. So rarely is rock and heaviness so
successfully combined. The effect of which is that
while the album sounds mean, rough and tough, it
straight up rocks. Instead of wearing the listener
down, it fires one up.
The songs are strikingly good. Particularly in
American punk, texture tends to outshine songcraft,
creating songs that "sound cool" but actually have
little sonic substance. By contrast, here, Kicker
kicks 13 simple, two-minute smashers, but the songs
sound as fresh as if punk was created yesterday. The
songs might be simple and short, but at their
fundamental level, they have a flow, cadence, and
logic that makes them as well written as classic '50s
boppers. It's exciting and nearly unbelievable at how
the band managed to take such a well worn style and
apparently find the thirteen completely awesome,
classic sounding, songs that hadn't been written yet.
But, of course, what really sets the album on fire is
the band's frontman. Even though it's purely an aural
affair, you can see the devilish glint in Pete's eye.
Although him yelling "You invite me to your art show,
am I impressed with this / It won't be hanging on my
wall, this is top notch shit!" would be funny on its
own merits, coupling with Pete's heavy cockney accent
and slightly boozed-out voice makes it uproarious.
Interestingly, on "Crusty Island" Pete pauses to harp
on change begging crust punks. Further, when he sings
"Insufficient funds! / I can't believe it's true /
They finally cashed that fucking check that I wrote
in '92!" it comes not from a broke teenager, but a
person that quite literally dedicated his life to
punk and has nothing to show for it except a bounced
payment, and somehow, instead of being sad, it's
hilarious.
Part of this is because of the band's enthusiasm.
Their collective age is probably over 200, but they
are not only playing these songs with the joy of 18-
ear-olds, but they play them with the raw expression
of punk's first wave. Kicker doesn't seem to be
concerned with making a big statement or seeming
cool, they just want to rock out and sing about booze
and bills. And, by doing so, they actually do make a
larger statement. This is punk rock from punks who
have been through multiple phases of the genres.
They're old, broken down, boozed up and downright
hilarious. What makes Not You so successful and so
interesting is that only these punk rock veterans,
through their experience, years and talent, are
capable of making an album like this one. When one
applies the knowledge of the band members' various
histories to their contemporary tales of drinking,
fighting, and money woes, so much more becomes
apparent than were one to read the lyrics alone.
On "Broke" there is a skit where a drunken Pete, who
is stumbling home, gets hit by a car and when asked
by a paramedic "Do you know what year is it" he
screams out "1977!" Clearly, he's wrong and that
wrongness is what makes this album so successful.
Kicker isn't playing retro musicathey're playing
contemporary music as written by a bunch of old punk
rock dudes who, despite having nothing to show for
it, are still as excited by the music as they were
when they started. That makes me excited too.
uRL:
https://www.discogs.com/release/5219389
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'
+ iTS + FREGON + FLACME + NRE + NOiR + SDR + UTP +
oUR gOOD fRiENDS aND siTEOPS aROUND tHE wORLD wHO giVE
uS sUPPORT aND lOYALTY
wE lOVE yOU aLL <3
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\__/ / / / /\_\/\_\/chemicalreaction ╫ impure194o.cn .
\_\/ \__/ /FiXIE (c) 2o12-2o2o & beyond __
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