Brooklyn is synonymous with many things but ask anyone around the world about New York and they’d all tell you that, at least historically, Brooklyn is where the true artists want to be.
Jay-Z is probably the act most closely associated with the area. Yet, with their emphasis on spoken vocals and heavy, reverberating guitars, Kyle and The Super Best Friends are probably more comparable to another one of Brooklyn’s most famous sons – Lou Reed.
'Ksbf’, ironically, commences with West Coast-style surf guitars, yet they soon morph into a jangling cacophony or shoegaze strumming patterns accompanied by synths and rolling drums that give the song a sense of constant motion. It’s not long until we’re joined by the band's trademark vocal delivery, as a gruff voice meticulously picks over the space in between fuzzy guitars and the subtle, winding bass riffs that interweave their way through the song.
The melancholic delivery method of the words is in keeping with the themes of the track, as the band ponder on the friendships that can only be forged in the hard times of youth. It’s made even more poignant by the sudden bellowing of the line “I’d do it all again / I’d do it all again / Anything for, anything for the super best friends” with the sudden pounding of passion coming like a bolt out of the blue.
Lou Reed and Brooklyn may well be an inspiration for the band, but ‘ksbf’ is, in sound and spirit at least, more akin to The Jesus and The Mary Chain’s seminal hit ‘Just Like Honey’. The greatest compliment I can pay Kyle and The Super Best Friends, is much in the vein of ‘Just Like Honey’ the ending of the track represents a poignancy that far outweighs the simple fading of the music. Both songs linger far after their words have stopped being spoken, and burrow into the consciousness of every melancholic brain that hears them.
James Ogden
Image: ‘The Death of Kyle and The Super Best Friends’ Official Album Artwork
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