Before albums such as ‘Jokes’ and ‘Snacks’ saw Kidcrash become the darlings of emo-loving bloggers everywhere, the Santa Fe quartet were a very different band. ‘New Ruins’ is perhaps most illustrative of this. Their debut album is one the band themselves are not particularly proud of, and their disassociation from it creates much trepidation in approaching it, especially from a post-‘Jokes’ perspective. Following a dispute with their record label, Kidcrash urged fans not to buy that album, and subsequently released the rest of their discography for free. The main cause behind the unpleasantness stems from their label’s pressuring them into the use of click-tracks and overly polished production, and it is this pressure that ultimately emaciates Kidcrash.
Though the band’s trademark angularity is prominently featured throughout, on ‘New Ruins’ it is seemingly toned down in favour of a diluted sheen, and this is disappointing. This means ‘New Ruins’ lacks the rough sense of danger that made more recent releases so exciting. Even judged on its own merit ‘New Ruins’ seems to fall somewhat flat with guitar lines impressing though never really capturing your imagination. Neither does the bass, which to an extent provides a steady background, but one so derivative that it tends to disappear into the background rather than act as a focal point in its own right. Furthermore, on an album so polished it is disheartening to find that with the exception of maybe
‘Until the Light Kills the Film’ the individual racks never really soar like it feels like they should.
However, despite the chants of “You’re a hit in shopping malls/ You’re the *** that makes us want to quit” in
‘Your Valley Is our Volcano’ being ironic due to ‘New Ruins’ saccharine, faux-poppy nature, the album contains enough talent to distinguish Kidcrash from the scene they sought distance from. For all its faults, most of which have origins in the production, ‘New Ruins’ is still teeming with potential. The playful interplay between the guitars, though not fully accomplished, ambitiously hints at inimitable intricacy, while the precision of the drums is undeniably impressive, and is perhaps the only area where the band’s meticulousness doesn’t sound sterile.
Ultimately ‘New Ruins’ is not as bad as some (including the band) may make out; it is just nowhere near the same level of future releases. ‘New Ruins’ overt melodicism and upbeat demeanour are not characteristics which suit Kidcrash, nor are they particularly flattering. Impressive angularity
is there, but with emasculating production levels and the absence of a sense of haphazard intrigue, such intricacies are ultimately unexciting. Nevertheless, while it lacks the rough appeal of future releases, ‘New Ruins’ is an album fraught with potential, and is still respectable enough in its own right.
