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Hailing from Bowling Green, Kentucky (60 miles from Edmonton, Kentucky – the home of Black Stone Cherry, fact fans), rock outfit Kiss Kiss Bang managed to work around the restraints placed upon them through the pandemic and create sophomore EP ‘Hungry, High & Seeing Things’; a title that might just sum up the lockdown for many people.
On the outside, you might feel the urge to lump Kiss Kiss Bang in with the ever-bulging retro-rock scene, but scratch beneath the surface, and there’s a bit more to Kiss Kiss Bang than meets the eye. The use of three-way vocal harmonies for one; the addition of some neat synth from vocalist/guitarist Trevor Smith for another. Comparisons have been made with acts like Bon Jovi, Ratt, etc, but to these ears at least, any comparisons with “hair” bands are way off target. Feel free to mention bands like Monster Truck and thanks to those lush harmonies: Eagles. Maybe even mention The Rolling Stones thanks to the ‘Brown Sugar’-esque guitar licks on opening track ‘Solid Gold’, but Ratt? Nope.
With the ultra-clean vocals of Trevor Smith front and center, ‘Hungry, High & Seeing Things’ is very easy on the ears. Aforementioned opening track ‘Solid Gold’ is a catchy little number with hooks-a-plenty and gorgeous guitar melodies by the bucket-load. Throw in the spacey synth sound mid-song, the sweet guitar solo towards the end along with a wicked jam, and you have a pretty damn cool opening track. ‘High Price (for Peace of Mind)’ features some bad-ass guitar tones, and Smith impresses again with his soulful vocals. It’s a killer guitar track first and foremost though, and it packs more than a few surprises throughout; especially a lush solo that delivers the money shot around the 3:40 minute mark. ‘Easy 2 Love’ is all about the slick vocal harmonies, hooks big enough to land Moby Dick, and a gigantic guitar sound: some of those guitar licks hang around for days on end. Closing track ‘Slow Motion’ has loads going on throughout its four minutes; a country-rock vibe in places, modern rock in others (some of the vocal melodies are pure Shinedown/Daughtry), perhaps the most radio-friendly of the four tracks on ‘Hungry, High & Seeing Things’.
If the purpose of an EP is to whet the appetite before a full-length album is delivered, then ‘Hungry, High & Seeing Things’ certainly does that, and continuing with the herb theme of the title: this is good shit.
Available now, more information here.
Connect with the band, here.
Review – Dave
