Like many Irish bands before them, it’s taken Red Kid a number of years to reach a financial (and perhaps artistic) plateau that has allowed them to release their debut album. This writer remembers seeing the Dublin quintet play a sweaty, energetic gig in Eamonn Doran’s as far back as 2005 – all flailing limbs, half-naked torsos and barefoot hoedowns.
Much as that sounds like some sort of disturbing pagan ritual, it was par for the course for a Red Kid gig at the time, and the passing years, it seems, haven’t dulled the Ronan Turner-led band’s enthusiasm.
Musically however, there’s not a whole lot of diversity on display on Rocket Ship, despite an alleged list of influences that include Adam And The Ants, James Brown and The Strokes. Many of these tracks, although delivered with gusto and consistency, can all-too-easily be classified as ‘uptempo pop-rock’, occasionally doused with elements of funk, reggae and ska. Opener and title-track ‘Rocket Ship’ meddles in Fratellis-style pub-rock, as does the new wave/mod flavour of ‘Too Young To Die’ and the jaunty Small Faces-referencing ‘Saturday’.
And although these are mostly tracks that’ll keep your foot tapping ‘til it’s numb – dipping only slightly with wistful guitar ballad ‘Fake’ – after a while, you’re not quite sure where one bouncy number ends and the next begins. Rocket Ship can’t be faulted for enthusiasm and delivery; but when it comes to originality and creativity, it seems there are lessons yet to be learned by this Kid.