nfluenced by The Cure, Beach House and Warpaint, among others, this four-piece hit the ground running. Opening track, ‘Absolute’mixes foreboding guitars, sinuous bass-lines and thundering drums, with the dueling male/female vocals from Kevin Richard Broderick and Alice Comerford. If that leaves the listener in no doubt as to where KRB are coming from, the extended intro on ‘Disappear’ is even more intense, prog-rock influences to the fore, while ‘Killed First’ boasts a New Order riff with hints of Placebo in the guitar/bass interplay.
The barely-controlled tension within the tunes is ever-present: the more atmospheric ‘Pretty In Poison’ adds densely-layered textures, a drone-like rhythm and more brooding harmonies. Elsewhere, the slightly more upbeat, ‘Doll Face’ has hints of Nirvana (‘Come As You Are’) in the riff, before igniting into a frenetic maelstrom. Finally, the haunting ‘Spitting On Your Face’ (featuring RSAG) blends murder-ballad vocals with reverb-drenched sonics. Whew!