Drop a rock… or a rocket and just fucking launch yourself forward… that’s what a new hot act called Rock Kills Kid does in their stunningly tight debut album aptly titled: Are you nervous?

I’d be… for several reasons, both harmless and not.

First, what’s the use of an i-pod without the latest tunes in it? Second, if you’re in the lookout for cool new bands, it’d be a shame not to know about these guys, they plain and simply rock. A hint of U2 and The Cure will promptly come to mind when you play track #1, Paralyzed.

This song, rightly so, should open the album. For that matter, it could open mostly any album in the rock genre. The song is that good. Your shoulders first, head second, thirdly, no matter if you’re sitting or standing, your ass will follow this 80’s-styled rocket.

Lead vocals in this particular tune are awesome. Jeff Tucker’s voice has a punch and intensity to his interpretation and a full range to back it up throughout the voice spectrum. Bono, Bolton, Bocceli, anyone with a high pitch voice, either welcome him to your private club or, again, ‘be nervous’.

Hide Away, track # 2 immediately switches channels (you can see the work of some big label engineer here rescuing the muddy garage guitar work)… please remember, these things happen… the raw inspiration happens at those garage sessions and then someone manages to preserve it while ‘cleaning’ it up. You and I, un-prepared listeners, just think it sounds damn tight…

I hate albums this good because they force me to listen and then pin-point for the reader every cool tune in the set. This is one such tight jewel. Please allow me this confession: as an editor of a modest sized website (200,000 monthly visitors, 4 million monthly hits), I get sent lots of material to review. Trust me, it isn’t boasting. No use to receive so much material that no one else will hear because mostly, it royally sucks.

But then you get that rare, awesome surprise… like this one (remember this when you play track #3 Midnight and you’ll know what I mean). And I say surprise because before you get any press item you get bombarded with PR pitches. Not this one, quietly, one afternoon Mr. UPS-in-brown smiles and hands me a small, thin package. I sign and smile back. Inside, no press materials, no business card nor phone number to call, a modestly printed album with the title:

Rock Kills Kid

Are You Nervous?

At first, I’m not even sure which is the name of the band and which the album’s title. In the end it doesn’t matter. Either way, they’re both disquieting enough to make me want to pop the case open and load the CD right away.

As stated above, like a rocket, Paralyzed grabbed me and put me immediately to dance. The CD has been in the CD player ever since and it’s been almost two weeks. (We editors remember these things after living for so long with these monstrosities called story deadlines).

Are you nervous, both the album’s title and song #4, will again make you think of U2 but now for a different reason: this time is the guitar. The Edge’s classic strumming can be somewhat guessed in the background. I don’t personally think this is an effort on their part to emulate this or any other band, however.

Back to life, track #5, seems to drag for about 30 seconds too long. The chorus is also rather simplistic and subdued and only toward the end of the song does a very cool cacophony of dissimilar voices manage to blend in. I would cut the last 30 seconds of guitar strumming and patch in some of this voice work. Not that music exec’s or musicians themselves care for what editors think. Nor I think they should.

Life’s a bitch, song #6, seems to suffer from a serious case of misapplied lyrics –music has its own atmosphere and sometimes lyrics crash against it as opposed to going with it-. Also, in my opinion, the track itself needs to be tightened up a bit but  shows all the potential to be yet another explosive item in this album, specially preceding number 7, Run like hell. Here, you’ll realize why you still miss Mr. Smith and his Cure. The song gets a little pop-like toward the end but some would argue that that is precisely what The Cure was.

What seems a straight rock band, suddenly gets a bit techno-wizard in Don’t want to stay, their third to last song. I need you, song #9 again brings the dance factor to the forefront. This time, Franz Ferdinand will pop to mind. This track shows again the singer’s range and interpretative abilities. Also refreshing in this tune is the more Latin drum work which sails away from the square rock compass.

Finally, track #10, Raise your hands, raises to the occasion and sends you off again to the Cure’s goth territory. Trust me, you’ll enjoy yourself.

I know that for the last couple of weeks, uninterruptedly I have…

Rock Kills Kid is:

Jeff Tucker: Vox/Guitars

Sean Stopnik: Guitar/Vox

Shawn Dailey: Bass/Vox

Reed Calhoun: Keys/Guitar/Vox

Ian Hendrickson: Drums

For more info on the band, go to
http://www.rockkillskid.com/ or 
www.myspace.com/rockkillskid

All pictures in this article taken by Kevin Lindblad.