Like 7 Seconds (but without the weird mid-80s predilection towards U2), KYI have been around for ages. Their last release, a split with Crime In Stereo was pretty darn impressive and on their latest album they focus everything that makes them legends into 15 tightly-wound tracks of pure aggression.
Subtlety isn’t anywhere near this release, as the band blast through the songs one after another as if trying their best to get to the beatdown as quickly as possible. Mixing more rhythmic (ie brutal) tracks like ‘Only Dicks Don’t Like Black Flag‘ and the title track with the more anthemic ‘I Hate My Guts’, KYI have produced an album that manages to successfully straddle two sides of hardcore. Rather than sticking to one template throughout they mix proceedings up by chucking in riff after riff (thankfully eschewing the trend of trying to be as camp/metal as possible) at lightning speed while retaining their trademark bass tone. There is such a depth to the music that it seems to batter the living fuck out of you while you listen, but without any ego or pretension.
There’s no sense of bandwagon jumping here, no pretentious metalcore, makeup or emptily arrogant posing – just a collection of solid hardcore songs that are so good because of their simplicity. Very little innovation, but KYI have made a legacy out of being straight and to the point: with songs as effective as ‘Don’t Call Me, I Won’t Call You’ or ‘We’ve Tried Nothing And We’re All Out Of Ideas’ they hardly need to do anything different. This is the sort of album that you could put on five years ago, now, and in another five years and it wouldn’t sound dated because of the timelessness of KYI’s energy and vitality.
Ben