Author: Aleš Podbrežnik
Artist: Killcode
Label: Self-released
Release: 2018
Runtime: 45:52
Rating: 4/5
Kilcode are a New York rock’n’roll force for a new era. With their debut »Killcode« they already thoroughly shook up the ranks at the top of modern rock thinking, even though at heart this is a band that draws its inspiration from the traditional gains of loud music. Two EPs, a studio debut, and now its follow-up is here too: »The Answer«.
The band still sounds infectious. It carries an energetic vibe with a cheeky, roguish streak, brewing up high-octane rock’n’roll voltage. Killcode’s swagger generates a simple, bold »straight to yer face« tsunami of guitar phrases that are stripped down, tuned lower, with a fashionably muffled sound. That’s a guarantee of a superb wall of riffs, and the lead vocal sinks right into it, authoritative in stance and often deliberately run through a distortion effect in the production. Killcode are at least mildly gloomy throughout. But they won’t put up with any complicating. They go straight for the heart of it, because they know that a simple, elementary approach to songwriting guarantees a high-energy payoff in rock’n’roll. The guitar phrase has to grab you right away with the oiled »drive« of a fat Gibson sound. Killocde can be very blunt. They put the musical rule »less is more« to good use, while at the same time delivering plenty of musicality throughout, which they cash in on with simple but greedy chorus hooks.
Killocode are a band that burns brightest on concert stages. Many songs from the album The ANswer« were already road-tested by Killcode at festival gigs last year, where we caught them at the German festivals Bang Your Head!!! and Rock Of Ages. On the strength of the seriously powerful compositions they shook out of their sleeves and a hellishly adrenaline-fueled performance, the band cast a spell over the crowd with ease. Songs like The Answer, Show Me, Bleed and Kickin’ And Screamin’, all of which are on the new album, shine even brighter when the band delivers them together onstage. Then, in the middle of the album, comes the song Own It Now. It’s a melancholic epic ballad where the band masterfully shows its subtle side, and the song itself cuts the album in two right down the middle. The first half is stacked, and the second, the one that follows Own It Naow, is no less so. Own It Now trails the wonderfully successful The Wrong Side from the debut album, which could have become a rock’n’roll evergreen in the eighties or seventies, that’s how well it’s written. Own It Now is a gorgeous song, but not as iconic as, say, the aforementioned The Wrong Side, which will probably remain elusive in that respect.
So in its bristling, fiercely droning rock pose, the band keeps boldly and bravely mixing in the genre spices of southern rock, stoner and blues, and with that roguishness Killcode even come across »at the edges« as mildly punk, the way Guns N’ Roses once did. In the closing Pick It Up they aren’t even shy about heartland rock impulses, though the Lynyrd Skynyrd influence is stronger there.
»The Answer« is an even more perfected album than the bold studio debut. The band picked its tracks more carefully for the new record, so you won’t find a single »filler« on it. »The Answer« can boast exceptionally high-quality consistency and a mature step up in songwriting, and with it Killcode have chiseled and polished their musical dossier even further, honing it into striking recognizability and distinctive expression.
Lineup
Tom Morrissey – vocals
Chas – guitar, backing vocals
D.C Gonzales – guitar
Erric Bonesmith – bass, backing vocals
Rob Noxious – drums
GUEST MUSICIAN:
Chris Wyse – bass on track no. 5
Production
Joey Z
Track list
01. The Answer
03. Shot
02. Show Me
04. Bleed
05. Own It Now
06. Kickin’ Screamin’
07. Pick Your Side
08. The Haunting
09. Slave
10. Put It Off
