Record Year 249/365, Kid Kilowatt: Guitar Method (1996-1999)
Kid Kilowatt
Guitar Method (1996-1999)
Second Nature/Hydra Head, 2004
There’s a point when you exist in a group of friends that are almost all musicians where you realize that some of your free time searching for something to do might be spent just playing music for the fun of it. Usually I don’t pick up my guitar without having an agenda for doing so, rarely is it ever just to explore my instrument or god forbid practice. Considering the group of people that I know it’s a little off-putting that we’ve never gotten together to “jam”. What would actually happen if you played just for the sake of playing?
So, though I hate using the term “supergroup”, it’s what best describes Kid Kilowatt. Featuring members of Cave In, Converge, and Piebald, they combine their ideas about songwriting and make a product that is infinitely more accessible than most of their other separate material. Guitar Method is very driven in ways that you wouldn’t expect from a band that existed in such a limited way. Largely based on the songwriting of Steven Brodsky, Kid Kilowatt found a place that in some ways makes a total mockery out of the process of being a band. Not necessarily in a bad way, but listening to some individuals make music part time that is so much better than most career bands is borderline insane.
It doesn’t hurt that Guitar Method was engineered by member Kurt Ballou at his now legendary GodCity studio. Though the band consisted of members of hardcore bands this record is only slightly a post-hardcore band. Their mix of emotive writing and angular melodic tendencies makes Guitar Method a product that stands out, even outside of the narrow view of being a side project. Even though this LP is more of a collection that a formal album it still has a sharp focus and a dense web of amazing playing. But what would you expect from this collective of players?