Miami, FL’s The Kind returns with their
sophomore album, “Waiting on the Harvest” which shows the band mixing various
flavors of ska and rock which comes out mostly like an attempt to ascend
to the heights of the B-52’s or Sublime. The Kind’s mix of Ska, Jazz, rock
and Reggae is actually a breath of fresh air in these days where record
bins are filled with “pop-punk”, “emo”, “rap-core” and “nu-metal”.
They are a bit more alternative than Sublime
and not quite as Ska as the Mighty Mighty Bosstones, The Kind stay a bit
closer to British Ska revival style than the punk-ska we have seen over
the past few years, with the exception of “Cell Phone Punk”, a tongue in
cheek punkish rocker that pokes fun at the cell phone craze. The do a great
job of mixing it up so that the album doesn’t become redundant like some
other ska releases. Then you have the funky “Just What It Is” which
features a really cool guitar lead. Then the band gets a bit jazzy with
the album closer "Body Down".
By far the best track on the disc is “Something
Missing” which seems to mix a classic Van Morrison feel with a Weezer’esq
quality and a little ska seasoning to give it flavor.
Over all, The Kind delivers the goods.
If you’re even mildly into modern ska or Reggae inspired alternative rock
than you should definitely check out The Kind.
Posted by Dumb Cat:
I love The Kind! Brendan Buckley, the drummer, and Adam Zimmon, the guitarist, are in Shakira's band, and I though they did awesome there. So I checked The Kind out, and I think their music is very original and just great music! They rock!
