Born from the remnants of second string emo bands like The Exploration and Midwest Pen Pals, Knola describe themselves as four friends that make and play music music together. But...what kind of music exactly? And is it any good?
Loosely speaking, there's an indie vibe to the band's sound that owes quite a lot to American college rock, but with a number of different elements like a touch of post-hardcore (hell yea!) lurking in the background. And yes, it is pretty good actually!
The one minute three seconds of guitar slap on 'Moving Along' soon segues into the loose indie rock of 'Weight' with its 90's vibe and frantic finale conjuring memories of Dinosaur Jr. In fact, there's a definite 90's influence running through the record, especially on tracks like the urgent 'Cottage Grove' and 'Winter Skin' with its insistent riffing and melodic chorus.
The tracks that work best though are those with a few added twists like 'Fabric,' which offers up a more rocky feel before a shift in the aesthetic brings out a pained (almost hardcore) vocal; fantastic track. A ponderous bass line on 'Ruby Beach,' with its downbeat vibe then rolls along to a surprisingly hooky chorus of "There are/ giants in the water/ too far out/ for us to swim" as the guitar kicks in.
Knola are best summed up by closing track 'Fireworks;' the distorted open chords giving it a dark feel that suddenly gives way to an atmospheric bass line and melodic vocal that drowns in a wall of sound. It neatly showcases their slightly left-field feel, encapsulating the light and dark tones providing the atmosphere to their loose yet emotive style.
"To the Rhythm" may be short with one foot in experimental indie, but it's pretty sweet and well worth a listen.
Final Score: 7.5/10
To the Rhythm released yesterday June 10, 2016 on Skeletal Lightning.
I'll include links for those of you interested in supporting this young and talented band.
Thank you for reading and have a wonderful day!
-Nights Off
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