Review Summary: Better late than never.
“Are we too old to start again?” asks Justin Holman at the start of Revis’ long-awaited second album,
Killing Time. It’s a question that rock fans of a certain age have been asking for years since the band’s acclaimed 2003 debut,
Places for Breathing, with legal and interpersonal issues limiting their subsequent output to a handful of singles and a 2024 EP. Yet the more
Killing Time goes on, the more that question begins to feel like the wrong one; on this album, Revis don’t so much ’start again’ as spruce up their existing sound, exploring new ground here and there while staying close to the same basic framework that made “Caught in the Rain” and “Seven” such instant classics upon release.
It shouldn't be surprising after more than 20 years, but there’s definitely a sense of Revis growing up a bit on this album, wanting to channel the energy they brought us before while distancing themselves from the people they were back then. Notably, Holman’s lyrics are a lot more blunt this time around; where he took a more mysterious, poetic approach on
Places for Breathing, here he discusses personal relationships and midlife worries with an often disarming honesty. His delivery of lines such as “All I ever lose is peace of mind / Watching all my friends leaving far behind” (on “Call Me Paranoid”) gives the record an extra bite and helps make it one of Revis’ most easily accessible offerings to date.
Much of
Killing Time sits in slightly darker, more riff-driven territory than anything found on Revis’ debut, while keeping the big hooks that were so prominent on that album. “Cool Blacktop” is built on a brooding midtempo arrangement that foregrounds the bass and drums, while “Honey Castle” sees Revis joining in with 90s alt-rock revivalists like Dinosaur Pile-Up and, arguably, beating them at their own game. “Stardust (All Around Us)” and “After the End” are the closest the album gets to ‘classic’ Revis, the former feeling like a sequel to 2003 track “Living Rooms” with its acoustic-led verses and soaring chorus. When the songs do go further afield, they end up yielding mixed results – “Todays Are for Dreaming” is a decided low point on the band’s career, sounding like a Killers B-side from 2008 with added cheese, but the smooth blues-rock touches on “I'm Not Fine” provide a nice change of pace and hint at possible future directions for the band’s sound.
And indeed, that might be the most significant thing about
Killing Time – its suggestion that for all the drama Revis have endured, they’re not out of creative ideas or passion just yet. There’s nothing unusual about bands releasing albums decades into their careers, but when one’s career has been stifled by so many internal and external problems, releasing anything at all can become an accomplishment. In the face of all that, Revis’ decision to not only keep on trucking but push themselves creatively is one that, hopefully, will pay off for them before too long.
