A Kiss Could Be Deadly - A Kiss Could Be Deadly
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RIYL
BerlinThe English Beat
The Aquabats
I Am Ghost
Tracklist
1. The Exit2. Just Another Mystery
3. Broken Music
4. Poison IV
5. I Guess You Didn’t Mean It
6. Damage Control
7. Midnight Romance
8. I Wrote You A Love Song
9. The Sequel
10. The Day The Covenant Found Earth
11. The Book, Not The Feeling
12. Acoustic Romance
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Ah, new wave. Or are we calling it ‘nu wave’ this time round? Either way, the synthesizer is enjoying quite the comeback and riding the coattails is A Kiss Could Be Deadly with a self titled album crammed to the rafters with moody atmospheres and weepy keys.
The main problem with AKCBD’s self titled debut is a definite case of the ‘heard it all befores’. Their MySpace boldly declares they sound like "nothing else out", but it is, in fact, quite the opposite of this statement and that is the reason behind band's downfall. The bulk of the tracks offered here sound far too similar, and aside from a couple of standout moments, very little demands a repeat listen.
AKCBD’s chosen genre is so diluted in 2008, what with it being siphoned not only from the original source material in the mid 80's (Human League, Duran Duran) but the clutch of bands that spurred 80's revivalist movement in mainstream culture (without getting too heavily into the logistics of it, The Killers have a lot to answer for) meaning that it is an uphill struggle simply playing this type of music. To really shine, a band has to be truly special.
There are definite moments where AKCBD flirt with this, namely the opening two tracks and “Midnight Romance”, but as a whole, the album just lacks substance. It is notable that the best tracks on here are practically all re-workings of existing demos the band offered on their MySpace, and they are all definite improvements, but it seems like the band has already run out of ideas. It strikes me that it would have been a better idea to release these re-worked tracks as an EP. The shortened running time would be far more fitting to the body of work the band currently have and would have made for a far more attention grabbing (and more importantly maintaining) release. As it stands, this debut is somewhat of a disappointment and, honestly, a little boring.
--Alex Davies
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Green Brook, NJ