Oakland's Kowloon Walled City remind me of the brief moment during my life when I listened on a fellow regular basis to heavy guitar music. The years of Grunge essentially 1992 to 1997.
It isn't a phase of my life I regret. I listened to plenty of great stuff during that period; Nirvana, Soundgarden, Smashing Pumpkins, Faith No More, Rage Against The Machine and Screaming Trees in particular.
I never dived entirely into this soundpool. I never listened to Alice in Chains for example and was never entirely sure about Pearl Jam though I bought and enjoyed few of their records. But the period did help me appreciate a deftly done chord change and an anguished vocal howl into the void when I heard one.
Kowloon Walled City's latest Piecework brings this all back vividly. They're definitely of the glass half empty end of the Grunge / Heavy Alternative spectrum. But this is hardly a difficult listening experience if you're used to this kind of thing. They're a proper downer experience without ever actually hurting your ears too much.
Although, this is a record we've all heard many times before Piecework is a reminder that this eternally glum bleak staring at your shoes because the pretty girls at high school never look your way can be quite fun occasionally. It's a good record.
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