Knife Crime is made up of four veterans of Kansas City’s music community: founding brothers Byron (guitar, piano, kazoo, lead vocals) and Brad Huhmann (bass guitar, vocals), Jake Cardwell (drums, percussion), and Jeremiah James Gonzalez (guitars, vocals). After nearly ten years of playing their brash brand of independent rock and roll to dancing audiences around the region, they have finally released their debut LP, Lovely Gary. What I was wondering: how did a photo of an Amsterdam canal end up on the album cover of an American indie rock band? Byron explains when asked: ‘I took the picture on a trip to Amsterdam, at 5am in the morning after I arrived. I was jet lagged pretty badly. We used it because it reminded me of something Oasis would use.’ (I looked it up: the Dutch capital has about 88,000 crimes every year, the number of stabbing incidents involving young people is increasing – the picture fits the band name better than expected.) This being said, the music is of course more important, and that’s neither very violent nor resembles the legacy of Oasis. The album is a tightly crafted ten-track melodic joyride built on sturdy grooves, clever key changes and unexpected tempo shifts, for fans of The Strokes, Cold War Kids, Spoon. Below two of the highlights of the LP: opening track Kids’ Excuses and closing track Roses. It was worth the wait.
Out now digitally and on vinyl via Black Site. Add to wantlist: Bandcamp