K.C.U.F. – “Every Day Is Winter Here”
I’ve always thought this band was good but maybe too indi for me or maybe too- that awful three letter word, emo.
But then again, indi is short for independent and emo for emotional and I have respect (major props) for those two adjectives.
I saw this band play a podcast last winter at the Midway, where I snuck in all clandestine, not exactly legal.
I felt like I was a rock fan in Russia in the sixties, viewing a tape of The Beatles in a basement, waiting for the KGB to bust in and start busting heads- at any moment.
And though my ears and soul were starved for nearly any kind of live music at that point last year, their performance rang true and real to me then as this release does for me now.
Let’s block out all the windows, make sure the door is barricaded and finally, relax and give this release a listen:
“Red Wine & Percocets”- “under the red lights and threats of debt. You were looking for hello’s, but you only got high. You’re just looking for a drink but the well’s run dry.”
These words just burst out at the first moments of this melodic, punk tune. Lotsa great lyrics motorized by a carousing energy and a melodic guitar lick equal to a classic Buzzcocks song.
“Play to never lose and you still got beat. So you sleep the liquor off in the drivers’ seat. You got the keys in your pocket so you can’t get caught. Yeah, you tried to catch a train but you lost the thought.”
This song is energetic, exhilarating and excellent. “If you can’t take the kitchen then get out of the heat.” But I’m loving what they’re serving up right here.
“Scars” begins with a kind of Irish/punk/country shuffle beat and the words- “I’ve still got marks from you. They’re carved with care into my skin recalling nights of wine and gin. Must’ve died a million times.”
But as the verse is immediately repeated it explodes into a melodic, pop thrash chorus that recalls Husker Du or Foo Fighters at their best or more succinctly, emotions ripping your intestines out from your gut and then displaying them right before your eyes.
This song ebbs and flows with volume but never recedes in intensity.
“And when the morning comes you’ll lock me in a hole or ditch me on the road…You’ll leave me to die. You’re gonna leave me to die.”
There’s a ton of anger, a lot of energy, a bunch of passion in this tune about a relationship that was not so perfect though as a song I feel it is- along with a big fear about moving forward. “I don’t want to know what lies beyond your front door.”
But I’m so glad I opened this song.
“Drop The Knife” starts with an eighth note, a kind of new wave starkness that is eventually met with fuzzed out power chords that accent sharply and lyrics that paint another bleak relationship.
“All the loneliness we shared that night we crashed into your couch… Drag the knife across the skin make sure it hurts, make sure it lasts… Cut the lines and cut the lights and cue the night you can’t forget… Was it worth the pain and heartbreak? Was it worth this fucking song?”
I don’t have all the answers but for the last question, I think it was totally worth it.
You know, waltzes aren’t supposed to be in punk rock, which, just coincidentally, is the tempo of this song “Drafty”.
But then I recall one of The Stranglers best known songs “Golden Brown” is a waltz, a band who were one of the original British punk bands and were “brilliant” as the English like to say.
And like every other goddamn song on this release it seems to be about a strained relationship and drinking but then, I think, almost every goddamn life is about that too.
“We watched your house burn down on the five o’clock news in a bar downtown.”
There’s a cool, echo-y vocal in this tune. A cool, echo-y, guitar also. And enough punk spunk to keep me amused and make me imagine that I’m sipping espresso in a French cafe in an existential mood and demeanor
that is perfectly in tune with how I’m feeling, just as perfectly as I feel that this tune is. My favorite song on this release.
So I don’t want to hear any talk about indi or alternative or even melodic punk in describing this music. And I especially don’t want to give the impression that this band isn’t punk enough for me to write about.
Because this is energy, emotion and exuberance coupled with intelligent writing and wry observations- expressing true feelings that don’t give a KCUF about fitting into genres or preconceptions, but do aspire to write and perform songs that are uncompromisingly real, exciting and musically superb.
And I don’t know how anyone else would describe this as but I describe this as art.
Hey, there is as much passion, energy and integrity as any great hardcore or punk band I write about here in these grooves.
This is great, Kfucin’ music. This is a great, Kfuckin’ release.
And this band KCUF?
Well, no surpise- They’re fucking great!
(Slimedog)
