Christian Kane: the EP

With two indie releasesChristian Kane and his band have found success on the club circuit but the wide spread play necessary to make them a household name has been elusive.

There are three recurring themes in Kane's music: drinking, girls, and driving. They crop up alone or in combinations and conjure clichéd images of a red-white-and-blue blooded, rugged guy picking up his buddies for a night out. Authenticity sells and you believe this is how the band spent their free time and probably still do. You can't help but feel good and connect to that not so far back time when it was your life. Time and styles may change but the songs remain the same. They speak of freedom, adventure, lust and invincibility that is all too often lost as we 'grow up'. It's possible Christian and friends successfully deliver this music because they still live it. Doesn't that make you jealous?

This five song EP available to download for $3.49 in anticipation a full length CD to that has been promised numerous times in the past includes The House Rules, Whiskey In Mind, and Let Me Go, which been available for fan's listening pleasure on Kane's MySpace page. The House Rules and Whiskey In Mind are the same raucous Saturday night sounds we've enjoyed listening to but the flawlessly crafted ballad Let Me Go has been changed.

With a guy "going nowhere" and a girl who's "got it good here" the song masterfully revolves around the binary phrase "let me go". Unfortunately the online demo version I became accustomed to has been replaced by the EP version so if you never heard it you are going to have to trust me on the rest of this. The addition of a bigger musical presentation and a slightly different rhythm on the EP do nothing for the earnestness of the story being told. I still like it and think the song is well crafted but my preference is for the more honest delivery of the demo in which Christian's voice is the central instrument.

American Made is a song Kane delivers with enthusiasm over a fully recognizable yet fresh country sound. It harkens back to their previous and once upon a time free download America High with its Go-American patriotic bent. The full accompaniment works for this song and if it ever gets into rotation it will undoubtedly be a huge hit. Not only because it's good but because the chicks will dig it, it's about them after all. A fact I'm sure was not lost on the boys in this band.