The Kite-Eating Tree
Method: Fail, Repeat... (2004)
Brian Shultz
Trapped in the indie rock world is a quality that drives some bands too far over their individual creative boundaries to be able to put together solid rock tunes. Thankfully, The Kite-Eating Tree differentiate themselves simply by crafting solid, driving rock 'n roll with just enough raw overtones to elicit slapping them with the aforementioned label.
The band's pairing of crunchy guitars with intricate vocal interplay are consistent throughout the ten tracks. Keeping this up for each song prevents a dull moment from ever happening, which is normally common for debut full-lengths. In the back, the drums are precise and cause quite the head-swaying motions for a listener. Overall, the sound is definitely reminiscent of the early-90s recordings Dave Grohl made that came to be known as the Foo Fighters' self-titled debut.
One strange thing about the disc is the fact that with all the songs being generally solid rock tunes, none of the tracks really stand out. Of course, if one or two tracks stood out, I'd be sitting here saying this is 80% filler, knowing what potential they hold in the talent exuded in these hypothetical songs.
The lyrics are vague yet introspective, using odd, hypothetical situations heavy on personification. They stray from mindless, radio-rock anthems by way of this and the application of many physical things not usually mentioned here and there (butterscotch, footwear, temperature gauges) without being weird about it.
In other words, this is a solid rock album, but the future likely holds greater things. You should expect just that in the next few years.