GTGC Reviews
email: gavinals69@aol.com
  • Reviews
  • Live Music
  • THE SPANISH ANNOUNCE TABLE

My Life With The Thrill Kill Kult - "In The House Of Strange Affairs"

16/6/2019

0 Comments

 
Picture
Picture
Quite often within these pages, I’ve bumped my gums about how the UK virtually pioneered post-punk, and the concept of “Gothic rock” as we recognise it today. You could reel off any number of late 70’s / 80’s bands that you could pigeonhole as post-punk, or, trad-Goth or however you want to put it, and you could almost guarantee that they’re from somewhere in England, but today we’re going to be turning our attention stateside…

We all know that America has produced some of the most successful Gothic / alternative metal artists of all time, especially industrial titans like NINE INCH NAILS and of course, those iconic dark-humoured darlings TYPE-O-NEGATIVE, but they came a little later…we want to know what post-punk bands helped shape America’s earlier underground music scene.

While you’ve more than likely heard of CHRISTIAN DEATH, other bands may be a little more obscure unless you’re already a Goth-rock fan…bands like THE DANCING CIGARETTES and ROMEO VOID are well worth checking out, but today we’re going to focusing our attention on MY LIFE WITH THE THRILL KILL KULT. Often shorted to just Thrill Kill Kult, the Chicago natives initially started out as an early industrial outfit, and you may actually recognise them from the soundtrack to “The Crow”…but although maintaining a steady, 30-year career, they’ve always been relatively niche. 2019 finds them still releasing records, and their newest one; “In The House Of Strange Affairs”, was chosen by you on my last readers’ poll…so let’s get all of our affairs in order and check it out shall we?

The album opens up with “Gold To Grey” and it’s slow, sullen bass line has a wonderfully nostalgic tone to it, sounding like this track could very well come from those early proto-Goth days…its deep and chilling, as it leads into a spoken-word segment, before kicking into gear with its snide vocal drawl and cold atmospheric synths. The beat is simplistic and the electronic elements rarely inject much life into the track, resulting in an ambient yet algid listen; a slow start this. The following couple of tracks do admittedly get your hopes up to be honest, with “Forbidden Saints” sounding like the first proper track, as opposed to a lengthy introduction. The electronica is more prominent and instrumentally it’s got a decent, but again, simplistic hook, with a lot more rhythm going for it. It’s lyrically dark and fetishized and it’s something you could easily imagine being played to a throng of leather and PVC clad Goths, sipping on absinthe at 3am in some underground club. Although…mate…WHAT is with that ending? Absolutely cringe-worthy, you just shat all over that entire song right there, seriously…forget the saints, I forbid whoever gave that the green light to ever work in production ever again!

Up next we’ve got “Treat Street” and although while still relying on the synths and new-wave style it’s got an old-school disco-funk groove layered throughout the track, with the additional inclusion of…harmonica…resulting in a wonderfully curious listening experience. There are more sexual references, and at this point it’s like, OK, fine, it’s a gimmick…reinforced with the husky vocals, but to be honest they detract from what is essentially a decent little piece of music. We follow this up with album highlight “The Chains Of Fame” and really that’s saying something…it utilises a catchy low-fi hook with chill-wave aesthetics, but the guitars give the track some much needed bite. He asks ‘How much cash can you make with that ass?’ and to be honest…I…I don’t know. Nor do I want to. Rough guess, twenty bucks on a good day? Fuck knows. I digress, the track ends rather abruptly and truth be told, this is about as good as the album gets.

There are moments like on “Studio 21” which peak your interest,  which houses more of that original disco funk combined with subtle trance elements, and “Royal Skull” which returns to a more guitar based approach, sounding much grittier, but overall the album fails to excite. Too often we’re faced with a lack of energy and drive from the remaining tracks and the bulk of the record seems to drag itself along like a reluctant cadaver. Appropriately we eventually end on “Am I Dead?” and to be frank, by this point…yes. Fucking feels like it anyway. To summarise, there’s nothing really thrilling whatsoever about this kill kult, and the house of strange affairs needs to be boarded up and demolished to make way for a Greggs or something…having said that they’re equally as bland as each other; disappointing this. [3]

WWW.MYLIFEWITHTHETHRILLKILLKULT.COM
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    News & Reviews

    Gavin J Griffiths, a.k.a GavTheGothicChav, lover of new music and supporter of bands. Inspired by a mixture of horror and comedy, and fueled by a blend of alcohol and sarcasm...if you're a singer / in a band and would like a review written up, please do get in touch via the email address at the top of the page and I'll get back to you ASAP. Much love x

    Follow @GavinJGriffiths

      CHAV CHAT

    ASK GAV!

    Archives

    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    January 2016
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014

    Categories

    All
    Acoustic
    Alternative
    Article
    Black Metal
    Blues
    Book
    Classic
    Classic Rock
    Comedy
    Competition
    Compilation
    Country
    Death Metal
    Doom
    Electronic
    Emo
    EP
    France
    Funk
    Games
    Glam Rock
    Gothic
    Grime
    Grunge
    Hardcore
    Hard Rock
    Heavy Metal
    Hip Hop
    Hip-Hop
    Indie
    Industrial
    Interview
    Jazz
    J-Rock
    Melodic Death
    Metal
    Metalcore
    Newport
    New Wave
    Nu Metal
    Nu-Metal
    Pop
    Pop Punk
    Pop-Punk
    Pop Rock
    Post Punk
    Post-Punk
    Prog
    Punk
    Punk Rock
    Rap
    Reggae
    Rock
    Rock 'N' Roll
    Shoegaze
    Ska
    Sludge
    Soft Rock
    Southern Metal
    Southern Rock
    Stoner
    Symphonic Metal
    Synth
    Thrash
    Unsigned
    Urban

    RSS Feed

Proudly powered by Weebly