Record Review: Russian Spy Camera – Mutiny In The Kitchen With Knives
Russian Spy Camera has recently posted their new record, Mutiny In The Kitchen With Knives, for free. It is a quirky collection of classic rock influences as well as some more contemporary shout-outs. The opener is an epic, Television – inspired jam that stands out as the most indulgent and longest track on the record. As the record progresses, more straightforward tracks like “Cryptology” wear out the Bowie and Clash worship through some great piano work and Strummer-esque vocal noodling. Electronics-tinged tracks like “Hotels” takes a stab at some groove-inspired rock that Muse began to touch on their latest record; an audible hip hop influence. “Cults” further professes the band’s love for Muse as synth arpeggios layer over a riff that sounds like it came off the Stills’ first record. The record even tackles a few acoustic ballads, like “The Obsolete Man” and the album closer, “Pickpockets” (presumably shooting for a Weezer – Butterfly type vibe). The pace is consistently fresh. Mutiny In The Kitchen With Knives changes gears confidently, quickly, and to great effect, with tunes that are impressively broad in scope and yet retain the tightness of a pop rock record.
This month has witnessed not only established giants Nine Inch Nails release a free record, but also local Athens band, Russian Spy Camera. Seeing brave moves like this from both the upper and lower tiers of the music business is exciting and speaks to the rapidly changing state of the industry; hopefully the trend will continue. It seems that the Nine Inch Nails endeavor was quite the success, so we can probably expect so (check out the behavior of The Raconteurs and even The Smashing Pumpkins). Russian Spy Camera have adopted a simpler pricing scheme (‘pay us if you want to’).
The record is available at their website: http://www.russianspycamera.com/
- Posted by Eric Guenther on March 21, 2008 at 5:39 pm
