Kisschasy - United PaperPeople

Fri 29th Jul, 2005 in Music Reviews

Kisschasey are Darren (Daz) Cordeux, the singer, guitarist and songwriter, Sean Thomas plays guitar, Joel Vanderuit, bass and Karl Ammitizboll on drums. Between playing pinball and Xbox in the Seattle studio of rock legend Barrett Jones Kisschasey managed to find time to put the finishing touches to their debut album United Paper People. Recorded by Phillip McKellar at Megaphon Studios in Sydney the album has a rock pedigree that is hard to top for a debut. Phillip McKellar has worked with Silverchair, Powderfinger and Grinspoon while Barrett Jones has worked with Nirvana, The Foo Fighters and more recently Evermore and together with Dave Grohl recorded the very first Foo Fighters album in only five short days.

This is a toast to all the people listening
I hope it gets stuck in your head
So tap your feet and quickly click your fingers
Let’s make the rest of the world care
I want a song that gets attention
This is the way it goes

From the start of the first track on United Paper People it is clear that these four young lads from Melbourne know how to right a catchy tune. The first track Do Do’s and Whoa-oh’s is one of those songs that most definitely sticks in your head for days on end. I’m sure that is exactly what the band intended. You have my attention!

Written about the vanity of today’s manufactured pop stars With Friends Like you, Who Needs Friends? is the second track on the album and is yet another home run in Kisschasy’s quest to write the perfect pop song. How do they do it?

With an acoustic guitar and soulful lyrics Morning is a surprising departure from the power chords I was becoming accustomed to. It gives us a glimpse of the talent the band have within them and I’m sure whoever this song is written about is very proud of them. It doesn’t take long to return to the sounds expected as This Bed chimes in with those distinctive pop guitar sounds. It is hard to believe that at only 20 years of age Daz has enough life experience to write such insightful lyrics.

The hits just keep coming Hearing Voices Tonight is another catchy, quirky, laid back pop song. The soothing vocals and guitar driven rhythm builds slowly as I find my car stereo strangely becoming louder and louder until the speakers are screaming for mercy. Then comes Interlude which seems to be exactly that. A more moody and mellow track, which closely resembles the sounds of Evermore, seems almost to be over before it started.

Joel’s funky bass riff brings to life Water on a Stove perfectly matched with yet another of Karl’s solid drum performances. It really is quite hard to fault the production of this long player. The Shake sees Daz’s raw vocals draw every last drop of emotion from the lyrics. The title track United Paper People is most definitely the heaviest track and maybe gives us a glimpse of how the band will sound live, or at least how I imagine they would sound.

Ione Syke is one of those catchy pop tunes that you swear that you have heard before. The melodic guitars and enchanting vocals sends you to that warm fuzzy place where you don’t have a care in the world. While What We Become delivers some more of the now famous whoa-ohs and more of those delicious harmonies and pop power chords.

The finale Black Dress is a macabre song in which Daz sings about digging up a dead lover so he can spend the rest of his life with her. This ballad builds to a strong finish of strings and piano. This is for me the stand out track and I was a little disappointed I had to get to the end of the album before I heard it.

The hardest thing about reviewing this fantastic album was getting it back from my friends long enough to listen to it. It is most definitely worthy of the high praise it has been given. With an average age of just twenty it is clear that Kisschasy will be one of the new wave of young Australian bands emerging onto the international music scene. I for one can’t wait to see how United Paper People will translate to live performance and it will be playing loudly in my car for quite a while yet.