Trying to Define “conscious noise pop” with And the Kids

Northampton, Massachusetts rockers And the Kids characterize their sound as “conscious noise pop,” resenting the ambiguity of “indie rock.”  Their Facebook page places them in the genre of, “unconscious,...

Northampton, Massachusetts rockers And the Kids characterize their sound as “conscious noise pop,” resenting the ambiguity of “indie rock.”  Their Facebook page places them in the genre of, “unconscious, accessible, existential, indie, glitter, popsicle, crisis.”  And their Twitter reveals that they’re fans of Belle & Sebastian, Purity Ring, MGMT, Lake Street Dive, Best Coast, Sharon Van Etten, The Killers, Sonic Youth, Dum Dum Girls, Bjork, The Black Keys, The Dirty Projectors, Iron & Wine, Death Cab for Cutie, Beach House, Broken Social Scene, Tegan and Sara, and Florence and the Machine… So if you’re still unfamiliar with the sounds of And the Kids, at this point you likely still have no idea what to expect… However, their debut full-length, Turn to Each Other (produced by Rubblebucket guitarist Ian Hersey), which hit shelves last month, is far more cohesive than you’re likely imagining.  A more “traditional” listener, less adventurous in their characterizations of genre, may say that the songs found on Turn to Each Other resemble precisely constructed garage dance punk, which has as much soul as it has sass.

And the Kids are currently on tour and will be playing Philthy’s own Kung Fu Necktie this Friday, March 6th, and Tellus 360 in Lancaster on March 7th. I recently got a chance to chat with singer Hannah Mohan and drummer Rebecca Lasaponaro, who are currently making up the whole of the band – synth-player Megan Miller is currently not allowed back in the US, after recently visiting her native Canada over holidays (prompting the anti-border sentiment of the band’s latest single, “No Countries,” and also a line of “Free Megan” T-shirts for sale at shows.)  I ask the girls about what actually tends to influence their sounds, based on the plethora of their disparate tastes, and Hannah explains, “We pull a lot of different stuff from a lot of different bands that we like, like maybe Rebecca will be inspired by a drum sound from John Bonham or I might take inspiration from some Modest Mouse lyrics.”   They tell me that thus far their favorite assessment of their sound came from Chip McCabe for Lonesome Noise, who says, “They are sonic ramblers, virtual vagabonds, swimming effortlessly downstream to where indie rock, indie pop, new wave, chamber folk, and classic alt rock all mingle together on the rocks as the waves lap away what differences ever existed.”

 

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During the day Izzy Cihak teaches transgression, subversion, and revolution at Temple University. At night he haunts Philthy's best venues to cover worthwhile acts for Philthy Mag. Morrissey is everything to him and, in their own heads, all of his friends see themselves as Zooey Deschanel.

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