K-Line

How You Gonna Scare Us Now? (2003)

Brian Shultz

Whereas their first record was apparently hardcore punk rock that drew from Good Riddance and Fugazi, K-Line has taken a step in the direction of highly punk-influenced indie rock of the non-jangly kind with both music and vocal interplay similar to Acrobatic Tenement or in/CASINO/OUT-era At the Drive-In, even with the British accents.

While songs like "You Know We Know," "The Circuit," and "Bikini Black Alpha" reek of the older ATDI sound as described above, tracks such as "Count It Down" and "Pax Americana" are straight up, raw and fast-paced punk cuts. The band knows how to quickly divert your attention from their unorginal yet catchy indie rock by simply focusing on unoriginal yet poignant punk rock. It's nothing groundbreaking, but it isn't horrible.

As a completely trivial tidbit, I found it interesting that two of the song titles, "The Escape" and "Hostage To Finance," both had major subjects of the respective phrases that could be found on the tracklisting to the other major "At the Drive-In-sounding band" release this year, Brazil's A Hostage And The Meaning Of Life.

So if you long for the days of yore when the members of Mars Volta were playing the practical opposite of their current doings, but needed a more punk rock emphasis, K-Line's How You Gonna Scare Us Now should probably do the trick.