The are a lot of positives to Kagoule’s debut album, Urth, and when you add in the fact that they were still just three teens (Cai on vocals and guitar, Lucy on bass and providing additional vocals and Lawrence on drums) from Nottingham when it was recorded it becomes all the more impressive. It’s not entirely faultless as a unit with a few lulls and wayward turns, but when it latches onto things it smashes them firmly and it makes for a pretty good indicator that this is a band to look out for.
Released through the brilliantly named Earache Records, the album landed on the 21st August 2015 on digital download, CD and limited edition coloured vinyl, along with t-shirt and digipak bundles a plenty. It was produced by Ross Orton at 2Fly Studios in Sheffield, who’s other credits include Arctic Monkeys’ AM, which should give you a good idea about the quality and potential locked up in the three piece that makes up Kagoule.
Up to Urth
The album starts out with a lot of confidence and positive motion in opening track Gush, which is an alt-rock gem that’s got shades of Radiohead, Shins, St. Spirit and even Nirvanna, albeit in an understated kind of way. The noise rock guitar solo is filled with steel and nails, kicking out a lot of raw sound that’s brought together with well balanced poise and a level drum beat backing. Vocals are strong in a cool alt-rock kind of way, keeping things moving ahead with purpose without ever attempting to break the power packs.
It’s followed by the two part story of Adjust The Way, which is a mix of full force drive and moments of quieter contemplation in the chorus. Guitars are heavy for the majority of the track though, with comparisons to Audioslave, Queeens Of The Stone Age and randomly a little Big Deal. The mix of vocals from both Cai and Lucy make a good change-up and add a little weight to the comparisons with Pixies that have started to float in and among write-ups of the band.
Other album highlights include Damp Sand with its dark spectrum and intricate guitar riff, the wild and furious energy on Empty Mug, the ringing licks of Greenbeefo and the mix of delicate vocals with hard guitar on Centralwing. However, our favourite song on Urth is Made Of Concrete, which is simply genius. It’s got an oriental feel to the stunning melodies, interlaced with Lucy’s high note vocals and a thick carpet of superfuzzed background radiation. The world beat percussion works incredibly well on the track, making it the smartest song on the album and lifting them to more artistic, complex levels from the iron grit of much of the record.
Down to Urth
While it’s mostly an impressive debut from the relative newcomers, making it an easy album to add to the collection, there are a few tracks that might get skipped later on down the line. Glue may not be one of them as such, but there’s something about the nature of the chorus and simple rhythm that doesn’t necessarily sit well with the rest of the record. The pinched, repeated line of “I am glue” is the main offender in what is otherwise a decent enough song.
Open Mouth doesn’t quite achieve the impact of earlier songs on Urth, and again it’s simplicity that lets it down. Mike doesn’t really draw you in all that much either, but Kagoule manage to pull things back with closing track It Knows It, if you take the limited Swim Palace remix of Gush out of the equation. The distorted guitar pulses are the jumping foundations that it rests on and the duet vocals ride them well.
Kagoule will be heading out on their UK tour in Winter 2015 and with such a strong debut album under their belts, they’ll be some the must see gigs this year. You can see see all of the tour dates below, underneath the video for Gush.
Kagoule Urth review: 4/5
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Kagoule Gush music video:
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