:: Track Listing

1. Hot Stenographer
2. The Wives of Artie Shaw
3. Hiding Drugs In the Temple (Part II)
4. The Party Which You Know Will be Heavy
5. Passed Out on Your Lawn
6. All Your Kids Have Turned to Static
7. The Snowy Parts of Scandinavia
8. Edge Set
9. Waka Nusa

:: Record Review

Kinski

Alpine Static
(Sub Pop; 2005)

Rating: 74%
Combined Rating: N/A%


Want to spice up a trip to the grocery store? Do what I did last Sunday and listen to the first three tracks on Alpine Static on headphones while you navigate the shopping cart. Old ladies were knocked over, cauliflower was used as a weapon, and I had zero self-control: purchasing multiple boxes of Lucky Charms and Pop Tarts like an eight year old shopping with the babysitter. The White Castle section of the freezer took an especially big hit. The rock can get me unhinged.

Alpine Static is apparently Kinski’s second album for Sub Pop, but it’s my first exposure to the band. Past articles and their own press packet want to peg Kinski as “space rock,” and while such a description may be apt to describe the dense, Kevin Shields-style feedback jams that comprise portions of Alpine Static, it discounts Kinski’s ability to seriously groove. While it’s to be expected that imaginatively titled cuts like “The Wives of Artie Shaw” and “The Party Which You Know Will be Heavy” will feature abrasive guitar squalls, they also contain throttling rhythms that make them most appropriate for reckless displays of driving and/or extreme sports montages.

The best tracks have an almost mischievous quality to them. Opener “Hot Stenographer” begins with an evil sounding metal riff that one would clearly anticipate to be accompanied by drums roughly 40 seconds in. But Kinski opt to abandon the riff entirely, instead choosing to settle into a series sinister of blues-metal grooves highly reminiscent of early Black Sabbath before pounding a single note into submission, falsely concluding the song, and then proceeding to humorously bang on the note once again. Repetition plays a major role in the Kinski oeuvre, and successive tracks “The Wives of Artie Shaw” and “Hiding Drugs in the Temple (Part 2)” follow the template set with “Stenographer” by highlighting repetitive guitar riffs supplemented by tenacious soloing and a propulsive backbeat. As with all instrumental outfits, Kinski must rely on mood rather than words to get their point across, but the underlying theme of Alpine Static’s first three songs would seem to be rather clear-Kinski want you to set shit on fire.

While furiously rocking out is the intended purpose of Alpine Static’s opening trio, successive tracks are more thoroughly composed, and often reminiscent of Mogwai or Murray Street-era Sonic Youth. “The Party Which You Know Will Be Heavy” in particular sounds like a close cousin of SY’s “Rain on Tin,” and “All Your Kids Have Turned To Static” evokes the quieter moments on Rock Action; not to mention Kinski’s tendency to overuse the classic Mogwai technique of silence morphing into ear-splitting noise on the longer tracks. “The Snowy Parts of Scandinavia” actually comes off as a little clichéd; literally beginning with over two minutes of silence before the requisite intermittent feedback squalls give way to the inevitable build-up that Kinski resorts to on most of these songs.

These guys tend to lose me on their more esoteric numbers, but Alpine Static unquestionably contains enough rock fireworks to warrant repeated listens. The faster tracks actually lead me to believe that I need to see this band live; a sizable compliment considering that I was wholly unfamiliar with Kinski before last week. Kinski also deserve credit for having the good sense to entitle a song “Hot Stenographer.” Fellow legal eagle Aaron Newell would likely concur; its unbelievable how attractive most court reporters are.

David M. Goldstein :: 14 July 2005 |