Review Summary: Interesting lyrics and good music make Kaddisfly's sophomore release a very fun listen.
Kaddisfly’s sophomore release “Buy Our Intentions; We’ll Buy You A Unicorn” is a beast of an album. Clocking in at 67 minutes, and 15 tracks, this album seems like the definition of pretentious, at least for a band's second album. Surprisingly, it is an interesting, solid alternative rock album.
The first thing I noticed about Kaddisfly was their lyrics. The lyrics, instead of focusing on relationships, like many bands in today’s modern rock scene tend to do, paint a portrait of humanity and the world that we live in. Lyricist and singer Chris Ruff writes about racism (For The Ejection Of Rest; They’ll Dance), acceptance (Crimson Solitude), forgiveness (New Moon Over Swift Water), and our very existence (The Calm Of Calamity). And while sometimes his words fall into a pile of existentialist crap, more often than not, they are surprisingly insightful, and dare I say it…poetic.
While much attention is focused on the lyrics, the music, while mostly standard alt-rock, is anchored by guitar duo Aaron Tollefson and Kelsey Kuther. They provide nice riffage on songs like La Primera Natural Disaster and Akira., but show a nice sense of melody on softer tunes like Osmosis In C and Eres Tremulent. However, while nice, the music is nothing new, and can be boring.
The biggest problem, besides the music occasionally falling into mediocrity, is the length. Ideas begin to repeat themselves, other songs get overshadowed, and it can just get plain boring. Even the interesting lyrics start to feel generic. Some songs are just plain unnecessary, like the utterly forgettable Set Sail The Prairie. The album closer, Horses Galloping On Sail Boats, is a good example. At 10:25, this is pretty long song. It has about four minutes of very nice melody and riffage followed by four more minutes of boring, repeating piano. The song is capped off by another 2 minutes of nice melody and riffage, saving it from itself, but leaves you wondering, “What purpose did that serve?” It’s the same story all over the album. Some great stuff, followed by some unnecessary filler.
Despite these complaints this is still a very nice album. The great songs (Message To The Flat Earth Society, Osmosis In C, Akira.) overshadow the not so great ones (Set Sail The Prairie, the title track), and the length issue can be forgiven. So, in conclusion, this is a solid album that suffers from mediocrity in some parts and a few unnecessary songs.
