Artist: The Kinison
Album:What Are You Listening To?
Label: Fearless Records
Rating:
Reviewer: Jonathan Yost

Emo, Screamo, hardcore, dancecore, indie rock, whatever. I hate trying to describe bands today, not only because they are so diverse, but if you place them into the wrong sub genre, you have a herd of crazy fans telling you they are something else. So, whatever genre you classify At The Drive In and the Liars as, drop these guys in there, too. Now, don't get me wrong, they may sound like ATDI, but not quite up to par.

What are You Listening to? is angst teen poetry set to guitar driven rock. The instrumentals are good, changing meter and beats throughout the songs, showing a genuine knowledge of how to play. However, it's the lyrics that bring down the album's credit. In "You Kissed Lilly", the immaturity of the band’s lyrics comes off in full force: "Josh kissed Lilly, Josh kissed Lilly, he just kissed a whore! Josh kissed Lilly, Josh Kissed Lilly, what did you do that for?" I mean, come on, I had a friend in tenth grade who I think wrote that same thing for the Poetry club. In "I Have Something To Say" the singer, Eskil Lovstrom, just screams that he has something to say, without ever saying it. Maybe that's the band's problem, is that they grab your attention and then just leave you hanging.

The music's awesome. And while not entirely original, it's fairly clever with excellent bass riffs and shifting drum beats. It peaks your interest, but then becomes boring as the verses begin. Lovstrom will scream the same thing over and over until you just begin to phase him out, and focus on the music, which as I said before, is the highlight of the album. I am unable to find out more about the musicians, but whoever plays the bass on this album is amazing. The highlight for the bass player is "You'll Never Guess who Died." The bass and the guitar work well together while the vocalist repeats the same phrase over and over for three minutes. To tell you the truth, I can't understand what the guy's saying.

So far from this review, you'd think that I hate this album, but that's not the case, I just think that the lyricist needs to grow as a song writer. I think that the band has definite potential, but need to grow and mature before they can break into the mainstream (if they even want to). When I compared them to At The Drive In, the sound wasn‘t the only thing I found comparable, The Kinison have that energy, that crazy drive to rock out. While What Are You listening To? is not the best album I've heard in a while, I still find myself putting it into my CD player to bounce around to. It's got a definite dance ability that makes it kind of addictive. So overall, if you want danceable rock, get this, if you want meaningful lyrics, skip it.