Kid, You'll Move Mountains Releases Loomings

In August of 2006, I wrote a less-than-glowing review of Kid, You'll Move Mountains in which I left hoping they would gel with some practice. Two years out, the gel appears to be setting firmly with their up-coming release Loomings. The last thing I expected after my '06 review was a sneak-peek at Loomings. Thankfully, shelter from a hurricane and an all-night Scrabble game create an indebtedness which is paid with a pre-release listen.¹

The new tracks on Loomings prove Kid, You'll Move Mountains has done some hard work over the last two years. The song writing has improved exponentially. Jim is writing some excellent lyrics and the entire band's collaboration on the music is adding to the more solid sound.

The Short Answer
Music & Lyrics: 1 2 3 4 5
Performance: 1 2 3 4 5
Engineering: 1 2 3 4 5
Buyability: 1 2 3 4 5
Overall: 1 2 3 4 4.25 5

The Band
The line-up remains steady with Jim Hanke vocalizing and playing guitar, Corey Wills "makes the space sounds, whilst sometimes playing the guitar in traditional fashion"², Nina Jones Lanthrum on keys and mic³, Andrew Lanthrum plays bass, and Nate Lanthrum percusses.⁴

The Songs
Inside Voices
A track where Jim's unusual vocal style actually works. It's reminiscent of some early Camper Van Beethoven. Inside Voices is a well-blended, simple progression of chords. The tune makes you want to hear more. A perfect first track that eases you into the rest of the CD.

Volts
The mixing is great. The lyrics are good. The instrumental performance is good, but the vocals are slightly off. They don't even have the quasi-Camper-Van-Beethoven appeal of Inside Voices. I found myself wanting to rush through this track, but Nina's vocals made me give it a second listen. The second time around, the melody struck me as excellent. Quite the schizophrenic reaction, I know.

Make it Sing
Speaking of better tracks, Make it Sing is arguablly the best track on the album. With vocal effects ala the Strokes and Nina's double-tracked self-duet, this is an wonderful song. Nina's voice really gets to shine on this track and the lyrics are impressive. I happily left this track with "I need to know. Is all this terminal?" stuck on my lips.

I'm a Song from the Sixties
My first thought hearing this was, "Is this the same Jim who sings the three previous songs?" The vocals are so different, I fear I have misjudged Jim. He has range. This is actually singing and the correct usage of the rougher edge of Jim's voice at the crescendo. More like this, fellows. More like this.

West
Nina does an outstanding job channeling Dolores O'Riordan. This song makes me wish she'd get off that keyboard bench, don a peasant skirt, and do some bodacious Stevie Nicks twirls for the audience. Nina gives West a soulful punch which makes it the most emotional track on the CD. Looking back at my MP3 play list, I notice I've replayed this song more than any other on Looomings. Outstanding work by the entire band.

New Blood
A little harder edge than the rest of the CD, but a great example of Kid, You'll Move Mountains' range and citation of my preposition that KYMM has been working hard. Makes you wonder how they'd handle some death-metal. OK, maybe not, but the uptempo is a wonderful counter-point to the next track.

Wives Tale
Jim actually sings his exceptional lyrics for most of this song. Nina shouts out a beautiful solo in the middle. This studio version contains some special effects you're not going to hear in Kids' live show. Wives Tale is the perfect example of a band that has the gel. Collaborative song writing, anticipated performance, and great engineering.

An open letter to wherever you're from
This starts as sort of a non-descriptive filler. I found myself doing other things with my computer while half-listening until about 2:14 into the song. Suddenly, I was pulled back into the music. The hook in this song is just that...really catchy. "Midnight. My house. Last one out of the city burn it down." I'm toe tapping, crooning along, and scaring the pets. Great stuff.

No Applause
The final track slides you gracefully out of 36 minutes of fresh music. Nina is doing O'Riordan again. Jim is crooning his absolute best. The whole band seems to be playing their hearts out. The perfect ending because it makes you want to put the CD on continuous replay.

Bright spots

Nate's drums which Jason recognized as something special since his engineering put them in prominence on every track.
Nina's voice especially when she sings her own harmonies. Simply seductive.
Jason's outstanding mixing and engineering. The over-powering guitar of their live session is blended into a perfect level on the final product.
Jim's songwriting. Good lyrics and a cooperative music writing effort which shows how far Kid, You'll Move Mountains have come even on a part-time basis.Totally buyable. Totally playable. Totally enjoyable. Kid, You'll Move Mountains renews my faith that hard work and dedication pays off.⁵ The official release of Loomings is Friday, 2 Jan 2009. If you're in Chicago, you can get in free to the big show at the Metro. Details are here.

¹The fact that the bad review shows up as #3 on Google is the more likely reason; see also "roif."
²Quote attributed to Nate "Failed Experiment of the Fermi Lab" Lanthrum.
³If Nate catches this guy, mic is a dead man.
⁴Please accept the author's apology for using this verb so pretentiously.
⁵In light of his first review, sushi-grade crow may be emailed to the author for his sumptuous dinner.