It wasn’t always apparent to
everyone that Kansas Bible Company would become a big thing. This band got together at Goshen College, and
then things started going so well that they all (all greater-than-or-equal-to
11 members) dropped out to move to Nashville and focus on their music. Since then, a few have returned to grab their
degrees and go, but the band keeps going, and they all tour together on breaks,
weekends, and summers. KBC is not some
provincial band. Since the release of
their second full album, Hotel Chicamauga, they have played everywhere worth
playing across the Midwest, including Bonnaroo.
Yes that Bonnaroo. KBC is a big deal.
It took me a while to get up the
courage to really write a proper review for KBC, and here I’m really going to
focus just on their first album, “Ad Astra Per Aspera” (a latin cliché: To the stars through rugged ways). This is for a number of reasons. They came from Goshen, and as a Goshenite
myself, I was afeared that no one would take me seriously. I have a certain lack of disinterest—I’ve
taken classes and hung out with members of the band at college (and they’re
swell folks). Their lead singer was
actually a substitute teacher for our high school for a while before they
really got into their music. He timed
the final oral presentation I had for IB English. Beyond this, I don’t know what genre to
square them away in. And I care about
people liking their music.
KBC has a unique sound in the indie
scene (I’ve settled on labeling them as such for lack of anything more
specific). They have a few
guitarists/vocalists, a few bassists, a few percussionists, a keyboard
player. And an up-to four-person horn
line. To clarify, KBC is definitely not a ska band. Their horns give them, instead, a rich sound
unachievable with any other wall-of-sound.
And that’s just it. With so many
talented musicians in one place, you’d expect Ad Astra Per Aspera to be one big
wall of sound, in the style of “Yuck” or “Los Campesinos!.” But KBC doesn’t come off like that. Their opening (and, in my opinion, most
classic) track “How To Build A Planet” has a 45 seconds of minimalist intro
before bringing most of the instruments in, and KBC shows their musicianship
over and over again by easing up and letting just a few voices be heard. I’m a huge fan of this. That said, don’t think that KBC doesn’t know
how to use their size to their advantage.
If Ad Astra Per Aspera is anything, it is solidly a jam album. From the almost vocal-less “Young Professional”
to the lyrically nonsensical “Gondor Primulon,” you get the sweetest riffs you
could hope for, a chill wind-and-string jam for the ages. The fact that they stopped “Young
Professional” before the 20 minute mark made me sad—that is a testament to how
well they work together, and how musical they manage to be. To be honest, if KBC has a weakness, it’s in
their lyric writing, in this album (they’ve improved by album number 2, but
that’s for another day). None of their
tracks, with the possible exception of “Black Books” (and maybe "Tension with Kansas") have terribly inspired
lyrics—not much to keep you engaged in the content of the vocals, which tend
towards the weakly-veiled metaphor, whether that be the repetition of
“Cigarette Mountain” or “Moderation”, or simply the shallow themes of sex and
drugs in “How To Build A Planet” and, well, really most of their tracks. I hate to say it, but if you want to be
forced to think, gifted some new philosophy, this is not the album for you
(Though, for you ethnic Mennos out there, you’ll catch some more nuance tin a
few of these tracks). Go listen to some
punk. But if you want collaborative
music at its finest, not only art but also fundamentally pleasurable, an ideal
summer album (to bring back that feeling at any time of the year) or just to feel good, this is THE album. It’s chill.
It’s dope. It’s the best jam
music you’ll ever hear. If you don’t do
anything else, LISTEN TO “HOW TO BUILD A PLANET.” If you aren’t a convert after
that, I’ll give up. But that track… That
track is genius. Even if KBC doesn’t
really find their thematic direction until Hotel Chicamauga, this track is
still hands down the cream of their crop.
This is what KBC is about. I want
you to imagine this track live. It’s
better than that. Listen to it
loud. Listen to it with the bass cranked
up. Listen to it in your car, windows
down, as the Midwestern summer rolls by, if you can. Just…
Just listen to it.
tl;dr: Listen to “How To Build A
Planet” by Kansas Bible Company. Do
it. Now.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YJjdcytsX40
-Peter
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