Kissed by an Animal is getting the vinyl treatment a year after release of their self title album from 2019. To describe these guys, well it’s hard to nail down a specific style that the Brooklyn, NY based band is trying to hit. To be honest, this album is hard to get use to in general.
To prepare for a review I like to look at the types of descriptions others would label these guys, and when I read that they had “searing guitar leads”, I was a bit taken back. This band is simple 90’s indie rock.
The album opens with a song called "Lemonade", which instantly gives you a sense of the lack of depth that lead singer, Dima Drjuchin, really has. Think high pitched whines. The lyrics don’t make much sense of anything and most of the songs sound like they are about drugs, or not? It’s hard to tell. Some songs definitely have great crunch and fuzz with that beloved garage noise sound, but the song writing doesn’t hold up to the production value. There are multiple songs where the vocal line matches the guitar melodies, and I’m sorry, just….no.
Given all of this and after listening to it around a dozen times I have to say it is definitely a “summer” sounding record. The tone is light and playful, and I have to say could be danceable with a willing participant. This is something that you would play at an outdoor BBQ for some light rock ambient background noise. The band is definitely solid, but they aren’t going to blow you away with any “searing guitar leads”.
I don’t hate the album, but I also will be deleting it from my playlist soon. It’s just not for me, and that’s ok! It’s worth a listen, but don’t spend to much time trying to let it grow on you.
