LeapFrog - kentucky avenue

Leapfrog

Kentucky Avenue
self-released; 2013

3.7 out of 5

By Dan Alcantara

There are times when I hear something and just know from the start that I am not the intended audience. But, being the objective listener that I have trained myself to be, I go into it and try to judge it based on what it is trying to be. That's the case here, with LeapFrog's debut album,  Kentucky Avenue. They're a band from central Florida, a place that is swampy and covered by lakes, some of which sit above sinkholes.

You can hear the swamp in their music, characterized by muddy guitars and reverberant vocals that are almost there just as filler, rather than an intended source of meaning in the songs. But what is the band trying to accomplish? I think it's evident in the sound and I say this having no experience of what I'm about to say, but I'm fairly sure that this is music made for the simple act of having something to listen to while you get high.

The band explores a variety of genres on this recording, finding a way to root them all in their psychedelic, garage rock; from the retro-sounding "Highschool Dance Song" to the jazz of "In The Lighthouse.” "The Flower Stall" features a repeating banjo riff on top of droning vocals and guitars. All of the songs, with the exceptions of "Lake Mirror At Night" and "Overheard (Dialogue),” have lyrics and they each describe a tiny scene. The aforementioned "The Flower Stall" is all about falling for the girl selling flowers while "Somewhere in the Country" speaks to getting back to your roots and starting over.

To my ears, the best song to start with is "Older Children.” It's the most accessible song, with an almost 90's guitar pop sound that really stands out against the rest of the record. It's just a shame it's so close the end. The final song, also the title track, is a sprawling jam that features some lovely work from the string and brass section that was put together for the album. All in all, this was an interesting listen and definitely worth checking out of you're into garage rock and psychedelia.

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