Kane Hodder
A Frank Exploration Of Voyeurism And Violence (2004)
Brian Shultz
Loaded with indie rock, hardcore, and seemingly obscure movie references, Kane Hodder is that art project that's always getting second place in the school competition.
"Aboard the Leper Colony" comes grooving out of the gates with the dance hall-sung, PSA repeat of "I'm gonna give it to ya" and you half-expect the band to bust out into "Heart Attack American" as you hear The Bronx's signature guitar work lacing Kane Hodder's own foundation. The rip-off is avoided once the hook comes, but the vocalist does continue this warning, screaming the same line of "I'm gonna give it to YOU!" in a similar fashion. But then a short while later, you find the band slowing things down to delve into pure indie rock, at some times close to a well-produced version of At the Drive-In's more punk-rooted days. And it continues like this for the rest of the six-song EP.
For the life of me I can't figure out a single movie they're referencing. I suppose I'm just not hip enough to the world of cinema, but for the hybrid indie rock/indie film buff, I'm sure you'll have a buttload of fun picking up on the allusions. Actually, they don't do so much as reference as they use films for metaphors to the violence, hate and negative occurrences experienced in the world. So lyrically, they're basically obtuse in most places with little hints at what's going on, with lines like "you could never ever win 2000 years out of mind and now it's 15 going on 35" and "what side says ground-war / what side says astral plane?"
The changeups in style are pretty drastic here, but the moods are consistent enough where they don't feel misused or out of place. A lot of times, they do mix the two into single parts, likely out of spite. Still, A Frank Exploration of Voyeurism and Violence is mostly a science experiment of Jekyll and Hyde-proportions; it's a two-faced monster that'll claw your face to shit only to sing you gently into the coma.