Krill are an indie-pop gem and their first mini album The Sweet Side of Cider is a great taste of this band’s sweet side.
The first track off the disc is Pass The Pepper On. It is a melodic, bouncy pop-tune with a White Stripes flavoured guitar rock intro. This contrasts with the female vocals and the high-hat drumbeat. The guitar track in this song gives it a solid backbone and makes it sound less pop and more meaty.
The next song, Science Don’t Need Me sounds notably different to the first song. The vocals are deeper and this conveys the less optimistic lyric. The synthesisers are more pronounced in this track which adds some additional layers to the sound. The songs here seem to have been created to provide a variety of things going on in each song, something to interest everyone.
The third song, 4 On The Floor, makes the most of the vocalists’ similarity to the B-52s siren songstresses. The song itself is pop-rock in the same vein as Garbage. The fourth song starts with a great bass riff, played softly before it is beefed up with the lead guitar and the drums. Sweet Valium High moves from the great intro into a song that sounds a lot like the song that went before it. These are fun songs yet not groundbreaking and there is nothing wrong with being good at what you are good at! Krill are very good at indie-pop and would be a lively, interesting live show.
The fifth song Lady Vegemite is probably my favourite track on the mini-album. The piano underpinning the vocals, the use of vocals and the lyrics are well done. There is a very strong guitar solo in the middle and this is the only place on the album where the drummer gets a look in to strut their stuff, if only for two bars! The last song Swallow sounds much like the rest of the album but ends the recording on a solid note. The band’s existing fans will love this and new fans will be curious to see their show live.
