In a mass of sonic enchantment and magnificent guitar riffs, Kylesa’s fourth studio album pounds through standard sets of speakers and obliterates sound systems. By its sheer force of will, this gargantuan record feasts on family pets, blows through walls, and thunders through fine china. With its rattling pound and sludgy thrashing, Static Tensions is a monster.
Based out of Georgia, Kylesa pounds out superb riffs and fierce drum patterns with joy.
The band, which formed in 2001, has gone through countless line-up changes. Guitarist/vocalist Laura Pleasants and guitarist/vocalist Phillip Cope might be the only two original members left in Kylesa, but the addition of drummers Carl McGinely’s and Eric Hernandez (yes, they have TWO drummers) and bassist Javier Villegas forms a powerful group hell-bent on global domination.
Kylesa set out to experiment a bit more on their fourth record, adding tones of psychedelic rock and playing with some different guitar sounds. The idea was to expand the sound, thicken things up with the double drums, and simplify the rest to create reachable, fun, and fucking LOUD rock tunes.
“I didn’t want to make the songs too long-winded or too crazy,” says Cope of the songwriting process. “I wanted to rein it in and leave the listener with something they could hum along to.”
Static Tensions springs out of the gate with the trouncing drums and pressing vocals of “Scapegoat.” The theatrical lyrics, shouted over a heap of aural ecstasy, help elevate the song to Monster Rock status: “You seem to me/ Death incarnate/ Raper of life/ Killer of love.”
A wonderfully crusty tempo shift highlights the sludgefest that is “Said and Done.” The layered drums pound it out while Pleasants and Cope interweave their guitars, producing melodic pleasure at deafening levels.
“Only One” surges with a riff built exclusively for air guitar. It gives way to a heaving snarl with vocals shouted fervently over the fortification of sound.
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