Kumiss
Aphasia EP
Taking their name from a dodgy Russian drink made from fermented milk, Kumiss supply an equally unexpected but rather more appealing cocktail of funk, jazz, and rock. Having made a name for themselves with their eponymous debut album and subsequent live shows, the band have laid down a further six tracks that show the progress towards the funkier direction their music is taking.
‘Aphasia’ kicks of the six track experience with familiarity, being one of their most popular live tracks. A chirpy verse with funky bass and drums takes things on a distinctly Chilli-Pepper journey and ends in a rocking chorus. A smart break adds an extra dimension to the track before an even bigger version of the chorus that ends in a Therapy style feedback-and-riff close.
Next up, ‘A Worldly View’, paints a sombre picture with a dark and subdued riff that brightens into a song with equal parts of funk, jazz, and rock. The verse is all about the melody, but in the chorus the guitar riff is just as important.
With a memorable chorus and funky bass slapping, ‘Wrong Direction’, contains a solo that could have come from George Harrison’s early 70’s era. The chorus is memorable enough with lyrics that will surely be picked up by regular gig goers.
‘Seven Minutes’ starts off with a guitar sound that swims, lots of hi-hat action, and the bass whacking out an impressive collection of runs. The highlight of this track is the interaction between the bass and the guitar just after the dual tempo chorus.
‘The Significance’ is a laid back quiet number with ambient backing vocals for the most part with a build up towards the end of the track that adds to the emotional feel of the song.
Final track, ‘Time of Day’, is the song that connects this record to their previous release with reflections of their old sound in the melody. A quirky grungy guitar adds the surprise in this track before a big rock break and a muted solo that gets more urgent as it makes it’s way towards the end of the track.
Kumiss are full of surprises. Whether it’s a sudden rock moment in the middle of a jazzy song or a strange break down that heads off on a tangent, they seem to thrive on the juxtaposition of sounds that they can create by adding other styles to their songs. The other stand out feature of their music, given their obvious technical ability, is their use of sounds. Rather than sticking tons of distortion and volume into the guitar solos, clean sounds, pulsating tremolo, and muted warm tones are used to add flavour.
Kumiss are clearly not suffering from aphasia, as demonstrated by the constant articulation of ideas throughout this mini-LP.
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Written by Fenton on
