Customer Reviews

Get in + 3

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Kenickie's first album, "At the Club", was a an alternative music marvel, comparable to a kickier version of Elastica's first album. The follow-up "Get In", is a whole different beast, retro pop that sometimes seems to be channeling Abba and Bananarama. Single "Stay in the Sun" and "Magnatron" even have a disco beat. Drummer Pete Gofton (formerly known as Johnny X) co-produced the album, and the production is great, using an anything goes approach that's as likely to use strings, brass, vibes, and old-school synths as guitars. Lauren Laverne wrote and sings most of the songs. Her voice is thin but effective, and the backup vocal arrangements that support her are fantastic. My favorite song, "Run Me Over", has an amazing backing vocal melody over the chorus that shows up on a reverse tape loop at the end of the song. The lyrics are generally about damaged slacker girls and the damaged slacker boys they love, most notably on "I Would Fix You". There are also many references to drinking too much. On the ballad "And That's Why", Laverne sings with only a sparse orchestral backing to explain "and that's why no one wants you". Lead guitarist Marie DuSantiago contributes "Magnatron" and "5 AM", both backed by a pulsing synth (and on the latter by a looped ringing phone), and the cabaret number "Something's Got to Give". It's easy to see why "Get In" disappointed the fans of their rocking first album, with it's big change in direction, but this album has a LOT going for it for fans of melodic pop. It's a shame the band broke up after this album.

(1=poor 2=mediocre 3=pretty good 4=very good 5=phenomenal)

Kenickie have never been a 'punk rock' band, they've always been an indie band.
They never once slagged of the punk ethic or punk rock itself. They are exceptionally
good at doing 'pop' songs, (whatever they might require to be called 'pop') as you can
hear if you listen to songs such as Psychic Defense, Stay In The Sun,
Something's Got To Give, and I Would Fix You. Making good (but still not
commercial sounding) pop music was where they were at their best, but unfortunately
industry pressure was what caused such a fine band to start pointing fingers at
eachother enough to split in the first place. The price is fair for an import CD,
and seeing as the thing is so hard to get hold of nowadays. And for the record,
the 'singer' (or Lauren to people who actually like Kenickieworld) has never turned
'Paula Yates' yet. Her career sems to be doing fine enough on and off TV.
Good luck to all of them, they're truly missed by quite a few people and still loved
by many. Pity bands like this are so far and few between anymore, if any at all.
This is a wonderful album, and has a lot of heart in it.

To me this seems like perfect pop music, better than any of those dreadful pop offerings that seem to have been at the top of the charts for an eternity. Overall the tracks are quite strong but it would have been a nice bonus if they had included their version of Save All Your Kisses For Me. The highlight is the single I Will Fix You

Kenickie used to be a punk rock band who played cool punk rock songs. However, they considered punk rock to be smelly and beneath them, seeing pop music as the way forward. Trouble is, they're absolutely sh*xt at doing pop songs, as you will discover if you buy this record for what appears to be a grossly inflated price. The band split up a couple of weeks ago and the singer is going to present some programme on BBC digital TV, leading me to predict that she will be Paula Yates in five years' time. Just you wait and see.