Tuesday, July 30, 2013

MP3 REVIEW: Kent State “The Wrong Side of History”

$10 for Record // Name Your Price Download

                Remembering the first time that I heard Kent State is like remembering… well, something that is not that easy to remember.  I found Kent State through a tag on Band Camp, saw that the majority of their music (if not all) was free to download, and got on it.    Since then, I’ve reviewed and enjoyed about everything they’ve done, though sometimes their choices for splits can be questionable.

                Recently, I saw that Kent State had released a new cassette split with Shivering Window.  Of course this caught my eye because those happen to be two of my favorite bands, so be able to listen to them on cassette and not just as a free download really got my interest.

                Before I could get to that cassette though, I then saw that Kent State had released a live album, which I went back and forth about reviewing because quite frankly, Kent State rocks, they rock live, so there isn’t a whole lot to be said about live albums once you’ve established that the bands behind them are good.

                Deciding to ignore a review of the live album and instead focus on the cassette review lead me to this album popping up on Band Camp and my declaration of “Wow, Kent State just keep s cranking out the hits”.

                If you’ve ever read one of my reviews of Kent State before, you inevitably know that I am a fan.   This album does not change that fact at all.    These songs continue that tradition of indie rock mixed with punk.   They’re garage, but they’re not.   You can hear Nirvana in “Formaldehyde” and Dramarama on “Secrets for Sale”.    The Replacements seem like a natural comparison, but yet on this album so do the Ramones.


                If you’ve never heard Kent State before, yes, I would definitely make this your starting point to beginning a musical adventure that will change your life forever.   But if you are listening to these guys for the first time with this album, just make sure you go back and also get their back catalog because you just cannot go wrong with Kent State. 

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