“Do we get the thumbs up?”
Kane are a band started by Christian Kane and Steve Carlson. Buffyverse fans are no stranger to Christian, if they have heard LA Song on the Angel soundtrack. However, as Christian himself was quick to point out to me, “I didn’t write that song, David Greenwalt wrote that song…”
I knew that of course, it seemed to me that Christian was prouder to be singing his own songs on tour with the band that he started, rather than living off the past. As it turns out, his output of songs with Kane is not to be sniffed at and if Christian is reading this, if my band had come up with songs of the quality we’ll discover here, I’d be proud of them to.
Kane are a little bit country, a little bit rock and roll, the full band has guitars, fiddles and drums with vocals to die for but importantly it has the goods. Kane’s self titled and self released collection was out in 2001 and the second collection under discussion here is a live acoustic set from 2005. The band has secured a big record deal and is working on their new album, they have achieved their record label goal, and hopefully at the end of this you will understand why.
Sweet Carolina Rain has something about it that gives glimpses of ‘Sweet Home Alabama’, the opening of the album. There are fiddles, guitars and mandolins and a song about driving! The Kane boys will have to write a few more car driving songs before they are into Springsteen territory but the images alone in this song, and the guitar parts are enough to hook you in. To me its all about the idea of freedom, the place is Carolina here but it could just as well be anywhere. I’m from the North of England and it rains a lot there too, but that won’t really sound as good in a song.
If you think the opening song is a country knees up on an album of nothing but knee slappin’ country songs then the second track should tell you otherwise.
Rattlesnake Smile is down and dark. It starts acoustic with haunting fiddle noises and menacing drums. The guitars howl and the lyrics seem to be from the point of view of a tortured man, a mild mannered young man who is now more than a little twisted inside. ‘Keep your distance’. Musically and lyrically this is a very interesting song and one that makes you instantly sit up and take notice. It has real depth to it, the guitars twang and Christian’s voice when he sings “Do I look like something you can put inside a fuckin’ cage!” I swear if you are not listening beforehand, that line will wake you up. We leave the rattlesnake alone with his tail in the air, ready to strike and the song disappears in a musical haze of drums. Brilliant song all round.
The Chase is a slower tune, and once again lyrically very strong because the first four lines but you in a bar with a drink, “a broken neon sign” and a bartender for company. Wherever you are in the world, you can picture that vividly. The song seems to deal with a man losing his woman because he couldn’t admit how he felt, so like any good man, he’s going to moan to his bartender and see if the answers lie at the bottom of a bottle. Then we hear he’s driving his truck through the rain to find her. The imagery drips off the song. “If you could hear it in my voice, see it on my face”, like he’d done everything to show her how he felt without actually telling her. The interesting part for me is at the end when we’re back in the bar with the neon sign, and the bartender is now telling the story. To who, maybe to the girl, maybe she went to find him and he went to find her and they never quite catch up.” You left him with no choice but to leave you, for the chase.”
Spirit Boy just grabbed me, straight away. Christian’s lyrics are sometimes so dense and detailed that he sings a little quicker to get them all in and they speed past you. That by the way is no bad thing, as a Springsteen fan I remember that is the great way he used to write, I’m thinking specifically of ‘Blinded By The Light’, the words fly and you don’t get them all immediately. This is lyrically another slice of Americana, a girl from a rich family is in love with an outlaw figure who is a wanted man. In true heroic ‘bad guy but you love him’ fashion, he rides into town in the middle of the night, guns down her dad and sweeps her off… There’s loads more to this but I’m not about to make it easy for you. Think Bonnie and Clyde, in the American South, cowboys, Indians, damsels in a dress…
And I’m running down this Indian highway
In a ball of red
I got a loaded gun and things are goin’ my way for a change
Well, you might think that I’m gonna be swingin’ from a tree
Oh, no I’m a spirit boy
Ain’t nobody gonna catch me.
The song starts acoustic but gets heavier thanks to the pounding drums on record, this is one of the stand out songs in the acoustic collection as well.
One More Shot comes once again from the point of view of a man who has lost his woman, and is asking for, you guessed it, ‘one more shot’. It’s an ‘everything is everything, but you’re missing’ kind of song. Lyrically straight forward the music sweeps along and there are some nice fiddle moments and a few drops of melodic guitar.
America High is the third stand out track on here; I can’t speak highly enough of it. According to Christian this was written after the September 11th attacks, and also deals with American involvement in conflict thereafter. Acoustically driven, lyrically this song comes from the point of view of kids, running into town and finding it deserted:
And those rocking chairs weren’t rocking.
The answers are gone
And there’s a sign that said “Closed” on the door.
Straight away you’re in the middle of a community dealing with some sort of aftermath, maybe staying in their homes in fear. The kids go and see a wise old man with a guitar and his words deliver a fist pumping chorus, after telling the kids about the boys and girls off “fighting for you today”,
“You dedicate your soul for god, country and Rock ‘n Roll
And get America high
That part goes down very well in concert I can tell you, and the feeling in Christian’s voice when he sings those lines…
There are some that will dismiss this kind of song as a shallow piece of patriotic flag waving but it’s catchy, well written and good natured in the message, and there’s nothing wrong with a bit of patriotism now is there? This song absolutely killed at the Barfly in Liverpool and I’m sure it was a favourite at the other venues, playing to people who weren’t even American, so if they can buy into it for the few minutes its on, well then, there’s your success. It’s purely a great song and it speaks the truth, at the end of the day, music can make everything okay again, or at least it helps to.
Into the Darkness is a lament about love, a straightforward and short ballad with a true country romance twang to it.
The studio album concludes with a party song, with Christian’s lyrics speeding ahead of him on Oklahoma State of Mind. An up-tempo ending with a surprise hidden track which has slide guitar sounds and a Spanish flavour to the acoustic guitar playing, not the way you might expect this album to end but that’s rather in keeping with the whole collection.
There are real moments of strength in this album, the lyrics are strong and vivid, whether they paint a picture of a specific area or a more general feeling they add to the overall impact of the album and the musicianship is good too. Some bands that I have reviewed recently say that you (the listener) will find this, that and the other on (insert pretentious album title here). With this band it’s straight down the line, no promises, just the chance to listen and make your own mind up. Even the album title and cover is as direct as they can make it. They are a country band, they do rock, there is enough soul and character in Christian’s voice to persuade even the narrowest minded of music fans to give them ago. Many already have, judging by their concert attendances and the fact that so many are able to sing the words back to them when they perform live. It is no surprise that the record deal is on its way and this album is a great grounding for them to explore on any future material.
The other album currently available is an acoustic set performed by Christian and Steve; it’s more intimate acoustically but does not lack any of the energy of the full band recordings. The Live In London is a closer representation of the UK gigs this month. Perhaps listen to this set if you are at all daunted by the country music tag, because this will give you a chance to hear the music and the lyrics in a rawer setting without the other guys. In this collection and on the night in Liverpool you can really hear Steve and Christian play off each other in the songs as well as between them. Their chemistry shines through and they set the songs off well.
Stripped down versions of Spirit Boy, Into the Darkness, One More Shot and of course America High are well worth listening to but this collection boasts songs not on the first album and this is the real strength of the acoustic collection in my opinion.
More Than I Deserve is a newer song, nice chord progression and a great chorus. Quite simply this song is proof if proof were needed that the boys can come up with more gold whenever they need to. This is one for the girls to swoon to and the guys to get a little mushy to even if they don’t admit it. Both Steve’s and Christian’s distinctly different vocals give this song great depth and it goes down well live.
Middle America Saturday Night is Kane’s ethos in an poppy catchy little effort. pictures of small town, girls hanging out with guys, cars and music. “Country music or rock and roll!” is a very apt sentiment for this band, as is the belief that no-one could tell them they weren’t born to be stars. Great lyrics, great energy, great song.
Pinata Novia is a Steve Carlson song and he takes the vocal on the London collection. His gravelly delivery is a contrast to Christian’s and it works well on this song.
Seven Days ends the collection on a high, seemingly song about letting it all go and trusting yourself to fate, letting it all hang lose and taking a few risks. A nice end to a very deep live presentation.
Kane seem to be able to do it all; write about love, write about family and loss and they are fully capable of flipping it over and giving you a song about drinking, dancing and having a good time. The House Rules is a great example of that. That song is not on either of the collections talked about here but it is available to hear on the bands myspace (kanecountry). That song says it all, they don’t tolerate no sitting around, you go and have a good time and get carried along either in person if you are lucky or through this live CD. Both are very possible!
This is where I came in. The band have their following and this writing wont change that, what I do hope to get across is the sheer quality that comes across from this band both on record and in person. One thing that struck me attending the live concert was that there was a great ‘home-baked’ or homemade quality to it. Not homemade as in amateur, but more in the feeling of teamwork it all has. Everyone was at that gig because they believed it, Laura who sold handfuls of CDs after the show and whom even I could tell was quite a vital cog in the whole bandwagon, Eric as part of the band’s management works hard and always wants everyone to make their own mind up about the boys. I told him from the start of the evening that his boys were not about to live or die by what I was going to write, but they like me are striving for bigger things and on only the strength of that Liverpool performance I could tell that they at least would get there. The jury is still out on me, and my writing but to be able to write about this music was an absolute pleasure and I encourage everyone who reads this to give the albums a go.
I wanted to write about unknown bands because by the time they are playing huge stadiums and are featured on music magazines, the secret is already out. Well it feels like the secret on these guys is already out too but big success should be around the corner and I’m simply happy to have gotten a ticket for the journey at all. This is good music and it was a pleasure to write about it, I only hope I did it justice.
Towards the end of the gig Eric asked me, “Do we get the thumbs up?”
I think the answer is obvious.
Whatever the destination for Kane, it’s going to be one heck of an interesting ride.
© Simon A. Moult / Moultymedia 2007
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