Illinois’s Kid, You’ll Move Mountains released their latest creation, Loomings this past January at the Metro. A venue couldn’t be better suited for the innovative yet eclectic and classic sound Kid, You’ll Move Mountains offers, particularly with these nine songs.
On the scene since 2006, KYMM is comprised of a line up of local darlings- brothers Nate and Andrew Lanthrum of Troubled Hubble, Inspector Owl’s Corey Wills and Jim Henke from Milwaukee’s El Oso. The Kid also features classically trained pianist Nina Lanthrum. Together they deliver a sound that is fresh, well thought out, and entirely invigorating.
Loomings in itself is impressive- from its aesthectically pleasing artwork to its overall production, this album gleams with professionalism. Though the album is available for purchase on iTunes, I suggest buying a physical copy.
Lyrically Loomings is poetic but not pretentious, a collection of tales of good and bad, love and loss, hate and rebirth. One of the biggest attention getters of this release is the fact that it’s totally devoid of the typical verse-then-chorus structure so common to indie/pop bands, and yet is unbelievably catchy. Kid, You’ll Move Mountains is able to reel in its audience without relying on choruses of group clapping and nonsensically shouted stanzas. There’s also a certain element of intimacy in this album, which I feel comes from the personal connection that happens when bands self produce (Andrew Lanthrum and Corey Wills recorded Loomings).
Though Kid, You’ll Move Mountains is pretty unique, there are some obvious influences that they kept in mind while writing. Specifically the spacey sounds of Minus the Bear, most obvious in ‘I’m a Song from the Sixties” and the subtle ambience of ‘No Applause’ that’s very much in the same vein as Explosions in the Sky. Overall the band has the same semi-theatrical quality of Lake County’s Ammi (RIP 2007), some of the lightness of Annuals, and could definitely tour alongside Lovedrug.
Jim Hanke’s vocals are warm and a little raw, and much improved over the years. Personally I never had a problem with Hanke’s sound, but in the past few years it definitely has become better with time. Combined with accents from Nina Lanthrum, there’s a very relaxed and harmonious quality within this quintet. Nina’s piano is most prominent and delightful in ‘West’ and ‘And Open Letter to Wherever You’re From’, her obvious skill adding a very particular element to KYMM. Percussion and Bass of brothers Nate and Andrew Lanthrum are consistently seamless, and sometime spacey guitar of Corey Wills is the piece de resistance to this group. 
Gritty without being grimy, KYMM has a highly polished and thoughtful sound, impressive both recorded and live. Anyone with a true interest in the art of Indie will check them out and pick up Loomings the next chance they get.
Kid, You’ll Move Mountains will be releasing Loomings in Milwaukee at the Cactus Club TONIGHT with:
The Chairs
Elusive Parallelograms
Disguised as Birds
9pm 21+
Upcoming Chicago dates for KYMM:
3/20- The Empty Bottle (WLUW Showcase) (www.emptybottle.com)
Johnny Rumble
Baliff
DJ set by Pretty Good Dance Moves
4/3- The Beat Ktchen (www.beatkitchen.com)
Say Hi (to your mom)
Telekinesis
9pm 17+ $10 adv/$12 at the door
Tags: Album Review, New Release
January 23, 2010 at 1:41 am |
[...] which recieved great acclaim, topping ‘Best Of’ lists across the boards. (Read our review of the album here) Though the program won’t air until later this year, the band will be playing Friday, Febuary [...]
February 22, 2009 at 1:16 am |
I decided to start leaving comments so you know I’m reading this. Because I would like to know if i were the one posting who in fact was reading.-amanda, the one you hang out with