Review Summary: A wonderful post-rock album by the new band Lune Kiri
Lune Kiri are a four man, self dubbed ‘post-whatever’ band hailing from North Carolina and the imaginatively titled EP ‘Demo’ is their first release since forming last year. But, the lack of imagination in the title and cover is greatly redeemed by the musical imagination within. The album oozes with rhythmic serenity and dense layers of ardent guitar work that can only be picked up on repeat listens.
The album kicks off with a distorted, feedback-full build up, establishing both the mood and the skill that are present in this album. Drums slowly pierce the sound with occasional flourishes and a guitar lingers on individual notes while a faint solo can be heard underneath. It’s almost as if the band is holding back, hinting at the intensity to come, and as the build up reaches its climax in the next track ‘Stockholm’, Lune Kiri release their energy and show their true colours. It is manic and crazed, there is no semblance of order for a few seconds and then it suddenly stops. A shoegazey riff starts for a few seconds but then it’s back to the heaviness.
And this is how Lune Kiri works. Unexpected changes defying nearly all post-rock/metal norms and making time signatures their sworn enemy. They are droney, they are noisy, they are powerful but mostly – they are precise. Although they may move unexpectedly, they do so intentionally. This is a band of tightness and while it often sounds improvised (which it very likely is) the instruments complement each other during the climaxes of expression. The album has a live feel to it: an essence that it hasn’t been manufactured but comes from emotion.
But, the album essentially feels like two build ups and two climaxes stretched into four songs. And while there is nothing wrong with this, the unexpectedness begins to wear off. The two shorter tracks “A Black Friday” and “Interlude” have been unnecessarily deemed tracks of their own, when they are merely just build up to their two their respectively following tracks ‘Stockholm’ and ‘A Burning House’. Nevertheless, these two tracks are absolutely incredible. There are moments of passion brought out in focused solos, moments of dark ambience found in the severe, droning bass lines coupled with heavy melodies and there are even sharp moments of jagged guitar movements.
Overall, Lune Kiri have created an excellent piece of post-whatever, and although it may not be flawless, I am excited for their future releases so long as they refine what they are doing – particularly if they decide to include vocals, as instrumentally the band would not be able to take their music as far as vocals allow.
Listen/Download it here: http://littleleaguerecords.bandcamp.com/album/demo
