| CD REVIEW Kamikaze Test Pilots |
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Band : Kamikaze Test Pilots Although these days based around Reading, UK, two of this funnily named band's members, brothers Ryan “The Boss” and Wes “The Bear” Niemandt originate from Zimbabwe (Africa), where they grew in in a little mining town and from whence they “fled” in the big White Exodus (that started there during the '80s, following the several nationalisation laws implemented by the Black majority Government, and had a final wave) around the millennium change. In England the brothers eventually met up with guitarist Chris Charles and bassist Simon Buckett (former members including Jim Davies, Martin Fluck, Gavin Creedy, Andy Galloway, Sam Wilkinson, Lynden Pater, and Pete Hayworth), who both brought their own set of influences to the band's sound, already influenced by the brother's heritage. Citation from the KTP's bio: “The band's music draws its inspiration from many sources, skirting around the fringes of the Indie music genre, finding a harder edge that satisfies the Metalheads who don't mind a bit of Groove, and not forgetting the deeply spiritual Africanmusic that will always be part of Kamikaze Test Pilots”...among the acts the band adores are included such World music artists as Andy Brown, Tuku, Sam, and Mashada, but for “heavier” music the band turns to the likes of Down, Corrosion Of Conformity, System Of A Down, Nirvana, Soundgarden, GNR, Crowbar, Queens Of The Stone Age, Kyuss, Alice In Chains, Blind Melon, Tad, and older classics like Jim Hendrix, Black Sabbath, Iron Maiden, and Led Zeppelin. Which, I'm sure you'll agree, makes for quite a varied bunch. And varied is also what the band's music is! The first half of opening track “The Inmates Have Taken Over The Asylum” almost sounds like an early Nuclear Assault (with slightly less thrash, and a slightly less higher pitch to the vocals), and is as such quite different from the rest of the album (or, should I say EP?). However, in the second part of the same song sees the band fall into the outworldish wackiness which typifies the rest of the material. Second track “Kenny Rogers (With A Shotgun)” gets a Psychedelic Southern Rock touch which is simply delightful, but not without including some heavier passages. Third song... Hey, you know something, I could go on and describe each of the 6 songs on the EP, but why don't you lot just simply check out the music itself? Log onto (www.) facebook.com/kamikazetestpilots, and at the “info” page you can already enjoy “The Inmates...” and the EP closing “Better Way”, alongside two other songs by the bands (from their January 2008 self-released EP Into The Sun). Pass onto the site's “My Band” page, and you'll find even more material, among which the aforementioned “Kenny Rogers...”, a 3rd song off the new EP called “Chikken”, and 2 more off the previous one. I'm sure you will agree, there is a zany quality about this band which is just delightful! I feel this material is strong enough to warrant a record deal, as I think it would sell among a broader audience. But hey, perhaps with all the “specialist” labeling of these days, the record labels wouldn't know how to promote this, eh? Meanwhile, I found out the band just recently (July 29 of last) a new 6-track EP entitled Live, but I'm a little doubtful whether they are live recordings, as the songs are all previously unrecorded. As for my oersonal rating of the EP...I'm sure it could've rated even higher (and even gotten into my year-lists), had I been able to give it some more listening sessions. 95/100 Tony. |