For the longest time their have been many bands with political lyrics and all that good stuff like Anti-Flag, The Clash, Rage Against the Machine, and of course System of a Down. And now after landing on Columbia records, California's Kill Radio are looking to add their name to that list of political bands. With their debut album "Raised on Whipped Cream." And in my opinion they are going down the right direction. But I'll let you make that decision.
The line-up is:
Brandon Jordan: Vocals, Guitar, B3 Organ
Dirty: Bass, Background Vocals
Jasten King: Guitar, Background Vocals
Duke: Drums, Background Vocals
"We wanted to start a band with some real substance, a band that could effect change." Says vocalist Brandon Jordan. "This album is just our thoughts and our feelings on tape."
Those feelings that I think are as pleasent as a riot. This album - starting with the song A.M.E.R.I.C.A that in the beginning starts with a silent whisper "Do not think the palace shall be your protection, only the crown will save your head." Then this album kicks off with a hellish scream from Brandon Jordan, and the album officially begins. Thats not the only song that begins with Brandons scream, after A.M.E.R.I.C.A, be ready for another one at the very beginning of Scavenger. Kill Radio seems like they do just about anything to keep their audience on their toes in this album. First two songs a great beginning to this album, both very fast pace. And very catchy hooks.
Don't get me wrong, there are some small lows of some songs, the lyrics can get old too fast. And just the music in general can sound very repetitive. No taste of solos or anything, except in the song Ad Jam, which is sound to me is a bass solo. And done very well at that. But most of all there's just some very catchy guitar and drum work. Which is how this album has me sold personally.
But really the first two tracks are as fast pace as these songs on this album will get, until you get to the tenth song that goes by the name of Ad Jam. Which isn't as much of a standout track like A.M.E.R.I.C.A and Scavenger. Excluding those, the rest of the songs are catchy and just sounds like good old sing-along-feel-good tunes. A couple good examples of these feel good tunes are; Do You Know (Knife In Your Back), and Penis Envy, and Burning The Water Down. What really gets me about this album is how easy the lyrics are, and by just listening to them you would think that they just threw some stuff together and recorded the album. But personally I think that they did put alot of thought and imagination into each song. Like the title track Raised On Whipped Cream that Brandon sings "Politicians wasted our money for too long/And religious leaders are raping our children." Which sounds a bit juvenile and can annoy many people that are tired of bands making political music, but can also be humerous to some. If your not ready for a highly political band, then your not ready for Kill Radio, but if you really just dont care if they dont use fancy solos, and highly technical drumming and want to hear something new that is catchy and can brighten your day. Then look no further.
This is my first review, I tried hard not to come off as biased. Feel free to give me pointers on this. 4/5
Pros: Very Catchy, vocals are clean, lyrics can be humerous.
Cons: Lack of solo's, only one song makes it passed 4 minutes, political, lyrics may sound as if there's not enough thought put into them.