Kilowatthours, "The Bright Side"

After releasing a somewhat mediocre debut album, Louisville'sKilowatthours took some timeoff, underwent a change in their line-up, reconsidered their direction,and then went intoTrevor Kampmann's (aka hollAnd) studio to record "The Bright Side." Theresult is a maturesophomore release that is as full and as sophisticated as any albumI've ever heard.
Anchoredby the Ben Lord's bombastic drumming, the band gives every elementequal weight in the mix, tothe extent that the vocals become lost in the mix. While this couldprove to be a deathkissfor some bands, Kilowatthours have consciously decided to place thelyrics on the same levelas the music. Becuase of this, I refuse to call the band's sound 'emo,'although this label isoften applied (mostly due to the fact that one of the members of theband was formerly inElliot). The instrumentation, which includes piano, organ, and variouselectronics to the morestandard guitar, drums, and bass, allows the band to experiment andpush the boundaries of the music's space and depth. The beauty of "TheBright Side" liesin its ability to meld influences from a variety of bands (differentparts of the album remindof bands from Radiohead to Lali Puna to Console) into a cohesive andseamless album. "TheBright Side" is one of the first great albums of this year, each songamazing me with itselectrifying depth, its energy, and its sheer dynamics.

samples:

• The Only Good Thing About Pollution
• A How-To Book
• Dancers and Acrobats

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