Kung Fu Crimewave - Guerrillas In The Midst

Kung Fu Crimewave

Guerrillas In The Midst
Baldy Long Hair Records; 2014

3.5 out of 5

By Matt Jensen

Hailing from Brooklyn, NY, Kung Fu Crimewave is a four-piece band consisting of Luke Kelly (vocals, guitar), Joanna Kelly (bass guitar), Neil Kelly (drums) and Preston Spurlock (keyboards). The band formed in 2007 and released their first album Capital Punishment in 2010 and last year released their sophomore attempt entitled Guerrillas In The Midst.

The music on Guerrillas In The Midst is diverse art/indie rock that showcases originality and strong songwriting. Kelly often sounds like a perturbed nasally punk teenager while the band creates accessible music that blends guitars, horns, keyboards and more. For the most part the band delivers an album that you can press play and enjoy.

My only gripe with the album is the production. I thought the guitars weren’t as defined as they could have been; the drums were buried and the vocals sometimes were on top of the mix instead of nestled in a cozy place. It’s certainly not bad but I would have liked the overall quality to be about 25% more polished. 

Amongst the songs there were a couple of highlights starting with “Braindead.” The music is somewhere between early Pavement and Guided by Voices. Kelly’s nonchalant vocals work amongst the loose sounding music. The song rides a sweet wave when the horns and additional synths appear. Good stuff.

“9999” was a solid song. I really liked the playful sounding grooves but the vocals were a bit piercing at times. A bit more compression on the vocals with a low pass filter would have helped out here. The band solidified my fan status with “Fast As I Can,” which is arguably the highlight on the album. The song is festive and feels like a drunken sing along. 

Kung Fu Crimewave has carved out a nice little niche for themselves that seems to be working out just fine. This punk rock meet art rock vibe they have is an interesting dichotomy that they are able to get away with. Overall, Guerrillas In The Midst isn’t without flaws but is a strong release from the young group.

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