Kitchen's Floor-Live at Real Bad

Well, my head feels as empty as a mollusk that's just been scooped out for tonight's dinner, due to a series of bad recreational choices this weekend. So I figured I should finally get around to reviewing the latest by one of my faves, Kitchen's Floor. And of course they don't disappoint, with 8 tracks of deadpan, ramshackle pop and slop.

This was recorded December 22 at Real Bad, a preemo-primo DIY center in Brisbane. Taking the tenor of 2012's "Bitter Defeat" to its logical extreme, this is a bare-bones live set featuring nothing but Matt Kennedy's sparse guitar, deadpan holler, and occasional audience ambiance. The recording quality's excellent for a live set, which lets you actually make out some of Kennedy's words for a change. That's cool, 'cause I've always loved the spirit of Kennedy's lyrics but usually can't understand a fucking thing. Thus, my new favorite verse of recent years is the chorus from "Down": "the wine has done its job/finally I won't think about this...." This is matched only by the opening couplet from "116," "The walls are rotting/and all my friends are dead...."

Kennedy said in a recent interview that he doesn't consider any version of KF tunes definitive, and it's weird hearing savage stompers like "Downed It" and "Regrets" stripped down to their bare skeleton. At first I only liked about half the set because of this gulf. Now I listen to this thing to get me outta bed in the morning. If anything, Kennedy's voice gains in power when it's not buried in layers of jangle rock; he belts out his tales of decay and boozy abandon in a flat, hoarse, declarative bark. No affectation, no tricks, no love from you. Ah hahaha.

Buy the CDR from Breakdance the Dawn. Or do yr bit for the Brisbane scene by downloading it from KF's bandcamp! All proceeds go to benefit Real Bad.