Skinny Kids get raunchy on latest release

    1 of 1 2 of 1

      Skinny Kids
      Skinny Kids (Kingfisher Bluez)

      Skinny Kids are far from the only ones playing the scuzzy, fuzz-soaked psych-rock card these days, meaning the local trio’s new four-song 7-inch could quite realistically end up getting lost in the fray. That would be too bad, because the raunchy guitar licks and echoing, head-in-a-bucket vocal tones could have them standing side by side with scene king Ty Segall or fellow Vancouver garage crew Dead Ghosts, even if the market of late has become as oversaturated as a worn-in ’52 Telecaster cranking out of a Vox practice amp.

      The opener here, “Stranger on the Highway”, more than delivers as the most ominous of the collection’s rave-ups. You get the disturbed rumble of organ, distortion-drenched six-strings, and a narrative inviting a mysterious outsider to step out of the acid rain–soaked outdoors and into guitarist/vocalist Trevor Gray’s home.

      “Around Your Mind” is the biggest surprise, with the ragtag Kids wrapping their melodies around a spurs-clinking country shuffle, replete with clacking clave textures and the wood-scraping sounds of a guiro. That approach is worth replicating should the band choose to fatten things up for a full-length.

      Comments