The Kamikaze Hearts
Oneida Road
Collar City Records (September 2006)
words:
Amy Wagner
The Kamikaze Hearts is a five-piece band from Albany, NY who specialize in what they are calling “porch rock”, but before you get images of Ma and Pa rocking back on forth on a lazy Friday night, beware. The kind of “porch rock” that these guys play is not the kind you can put on in the background and then sit down and ignore. You’ll want to pay attention and really give this band a listen because they do a lot of things right on their second full-length
Oneida Road.
Their sound, based around old school Crosby Stills and Nash harmonies and shimmering guitar solos, is old-fashioned but it’s still charming. A first-class producer and mixer could really get in there and make a few of their songs really take off, but for the most part, the guys do a good enough job getting lift off on their own. Take the song “Wolfert’s Roost” for example. If this one doesn’t make you want to slow dance in a dark bar then you probably aren’t of the human race.
The album also pulls off balancing slow burners like “Half of Me” with harder rocking tunes like “Ash Wednesday”. But it’s on the song “Guyana Central High School Class of ‘78” where they really take a risk and surprisingly, succeed. Any piece of music that runs 9:15 better be damned good or the skip button will go on overdrive and this one is well, f-ing fine – great story song backed up with a good production.
If you thought that New York City had the corner on the music market (and come on, admit it – you did) then give upstaters Kamikaze Hearts a try. They’re a nice reminder that there is life in New York beyond the lower east side and of course, Brooklyn.
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