Kit

Broken Voyage

[Upset the Rhythm; 2007]

Styles: energetic, generic post-punk
Others: Erase Errata, early Deerhoof, Le Tigre

Now that Deerhoof focus their energy on crafting quirky avant-pop tunes and Erase Errata reduce themselves to a riot-grrrl-by-numbers nostalgia act, the Bay Area femme spazz-punk Writers Guild needs a new, inventive author. Kit sit at the typewriter and whip up a postmodern novel with Broken Voyage, a collection of riotous rockers that journey to the outer regions of the post-punk sound with off-kilter rhythms and noise insertions. However, Kit can’t write on the same level as their foremothers, precisely because their sound simply mimics them. Better bands utilize the eccentricities Kit place in their songs, but Kit do nothing to address this matter.

They pose as innovative punkers, but they flat-out plagiarize nearly every ‘cutting edge’ gimmick on Broken Voyage; they even photocopy the single-string declarative guitar line opening of “Star Sign” from Deerhoof’s “Flower” and don’t bother dressing it up. On “Night Time,” they use the same single-string rhythm constructions and add spiky, out-of-tune no-wave guitar strums on the side, recalling nearly every band from the short lived no-wave resurrection at the turn of the century. In fact, the band blatantly steals a handful of song structures from Deerhoof’s Holdy Paws. Elsewhere, it becomes apparent Kit listened a little too closely to Erase Errata’s first two albums, as the band constructs similar guitar lines, song lengths, and vocal melodies. If one lacks a background in the Kill Rock Stars roster from the early-to-late ’90s, Kit may blow your mind. Others will yearn for the waning days of riot-grrrl, as Broken Voyage serves as a boring set of Cliff’s Notes to a dozen exciting albums.

1. Tethered Wing 2. Fake Broken Legs 3. Maps 4. Flat Earth 5. Star Sign (listen to mp3) 6. Forest 7. Night Time 8. Coast Of Arms 9. Nautical Lament 10. Petty Tiger Tells 11. Fixed Compass

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