Review: Rock Kills Kid - Self-Titled EP

artist: rock kills kid album: self-titled (ep) label: fearless records released: 1/28/03 by: rob tatum My first impression of Rock Kills Kid was not a good one. I thought to myself, “Great. Another poppy, generic band.” Well, I’ll admit that I jumped to conclusions. Now that I have listened to this CD a couple more times, it has really grown on me. Don’t get me wrong, Rock Kills Kid isn’t revolutionizing music or anything, but with catchy, heartfelt lyrics, and good melody, they have managed to wedge into my normal rotation for the last couple of weeks. I would probably compare this band to a little mellower Finch, or less poppy Jimmy Eat World. The music lies somewhere between emo and pop-punk, but it’s well arranged (which is a key). The lyrics are typical of this genre, “’Cause you’re everything to me, and I want you to know, you’re everything to me, and I want it to show.” I really like Jeff’s vocals. His voice fits the music well and gives a huge lift to the melody of the songs. There are only a couple of qualms that I had with the EP. First off, half the songs were recorded at one place, and the other half somewhere else. Ordinarily that wouldn’t matter, but you can notice the difference when listening to the CD. Secondly, I really, really don’t like the 5th song, “Immanuel.” It just doesn’t flow with the album, and to be perfectly honest, it’s irritating. Aside from those things, I really have grown to enjoy listening to this. I am actually anxious to hear a full length from this band. It’s usually not my thing, but 5 out of the 6 songs on this EP are definitely worth checking out if you are into emo or pop-punk. favorite song: “everything to me” rating: 75%/100% listen to rock kills kid