Artist.......: The Kill Devil Hills
Album........: Heathen Songs
Label........: n/a
Genre........: Country
Catnr........: n/a
source.......: CDDA
rip.date.....: Mar-15-2007
str.date.....: 000-00-0000
quality......: VBR/44.1Hz/Joint-Stereo
Url..........: http://www.thekilldevilhills.com/
track title time
01. changin' the weather 05:05
02. gunslinger 04:12
03. angry town 06:21
04. heathen 04:22
05. people stain 03:23
06. drinking too much 03:59
07. 6=5 05:02
08. trying to forget 04:51
09. brown skin 04:25
10. kill devil hills 03:44
11. changin' the weather (reprise) 03:18
Runtime 48:42 min
Size 68,2 MB
Release Notes:
Part country, part rock, part roots, there's
something about The Kill Devil Hills that makes
them impossible to pigeonhole. The West Australian
six-piece draw from influences all over the shop,
but manage to settle on a distinct sound on Heathen
Songs, their debut album.
If Heathen Songs' opening track, Changin' The
Weather doesn't grab you, chances are you won't
find anything of interest on the rest of the
record. It's the age-old argument of seamless
transition versus keeping the songs fresh, giving
each song its own identity. For a debut album, the
band do a sound job of establishing a trademark
sound, but many of the tracks on the album blend
into each other, and are quickly forgotten.
That said, Heathen Songs certainly has its standout
tracks. Two minutes 35 seconds into Changin' the
Weather, where the drawn-out atmospheric intro
music gives way for a fiery vocal wake-up call, the
listener gets an idea of what's ahead. The jangling
piano sounds and violin on Gunslinger paint a scene
straight out of a 1970s Western, while the Nick
Cave-esque vocals on The Heathen Song sends shivers
down the spine.
The album's focus shifts to the personal in its
latter stages, and standout track Drinking Too Much
manages to balance the country western sounds with
lyrics that could easily have turned up on the
latest Simple Plan album. It shouldn't work, but it
does.
Though 6=5 and Trying to Forget About You fail to
stand out from the rest, Heathen Songs has a wag in
the tail. Brown Skin is probably the quietest point
of the album, but its minimal vocals, piano and
acoustic guitar sound proves to be another
highlight. The vocals in the rootsy Kill Devil
Hills give a nod in the direction of The Pogues,
with the band's eponymous track the band's last
punch, before wrapping thing up right where they
started, with a reprise of Changin' the Weather.
While the album has its dull moments, the Kill
Devil Hills have come up with a coherant debut
album that asserts the band's identity. At the same
time, there are enough standout tracks to make this
disc worth your hard-earned dollars