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I didn't really want to listen to a record by a band called "Kiss My Jazz." It sounds like, I dunno, Metallica covering Thelonious Monk tunes with Adam Sandler contributing new lyrics about goats. Fortunately, Kiss My Jazz sounds nothing like that. Instead, the band consists of a dozen-odd Dutch folks who don't really play jazz but whose playing shows a certain familiarity with that music's textures, sense of space, and timing. But this isn't fake jazz. Sometimes it sounds like a more rock-influenced Tom Waits without the artistic pretentiousness, whiskey noir characterizations, or tortured growling. Elsewhere it's reminiscent of The Fall in that band's noisier, more sonically adventurous moments (and the cover art recalls the paintings of Claus Castenskiold which graced a handful of classic mid-eighties Fall albums). The listener familiar with these artists will note the implication that many moments on this album are more interesting in the attempt than in the execution, but fortunately such moments are outnumbered by those that do succeed. |
