Kaddisfly – Set Sail The Prairie Released March 6th, 2007
Hopeless/Sub City
There’s a lot to be told with Kaddisfly and Set Sail The Prairie, and it doesn’t take multiple times through to get it. It does, however, take an inquisitive first listen. You must, at least in my experience, take Set Sail The Prairie in a full, bear hug snoop. You must pay attention to every little detail, every intentional or subconscious pass at imagery, or every silky transition from track to track. If you allow Kaddisfly to envelope you into its natural concepts and feelings, Set Sail The Prairie becomes more than just a prog/post-hardcore release. It becomes experiential and swift. It becomes clever and a lot more organized than the previous Hopeless melting pot, Buy Our Intention; Well Buy You A Unicorn.
The concept of the album revolves around natural themes. Twelve of the 14 tracks are titled for specific months of the year, and the intro, “Summer Solstice,” starts of with the line I am the blade of grass trembling in the breeze affected by the surroundings. After the first track, Kaddisfly swoops into the leading lady “Campfire” without a blemish. It’s a good and telling sign of what to expect from now on; Set Sail’s primary selling point (for me) is in its instinctive shifts through tempos and layers. Take, for example, “Waves” into “Harbor.” “Waves” begins with an electronic throbbing that simulates ocean-like finery. The song transitions into a sharp exposition of riffs before collecting into a different, snappier beat. After a quick pause, Kaddisfly moves into “Harbor,” another seaboard tone with airborne guitars and midway piano trinklets. Between these two tracks, Kaddsifly stretches their wings (or gills) into a mobile melody.
What makes Set Sail flow so well are two things: its Latin underpanties and the similarities between tracks. From “Birds” to “Empire,” Kaddisfly recalls melodic lines from the former into the latter. Techniques as such whirl and circulate the organic, almost tribal, flow of the album and give it flavor. Even on a shuffle, Set Sail The Prairie smooths into the grain of its own rhythm. “Snowflakes” starts thrashy, goes contemplative, reverts back to thrashy, and ends nostalgic in a showoff of changeovers, sort of like an Animorph. But what’s really great about this bouquet of styles is that you may think I am completely wrong. That’s the beauty of open interpretation.
From the studio to my stereo, Set Sail The Prairie’s post-recording sheen echoes and fills just as naturally as the flow – no robots here, my friend. Lyrically, I was more than surprised, especially after the pirating escapades on “Mercury.” Like I said before, Kaddisfly is so much more clever than they give off in passing. Only if your umpire mitt is ajar will you catch it all.
Vocalist Chris Ruff dines his strong/soft whine. Under normal, boring circumstances, his chords would probably annoy me. Instead, his vibrato ricochets so well against the open meanings of the arrangements that he completes the bigger picture. Ruff isn’t just a singer; he’s another instrument. The rest of the Kaddisfly crew is in the zone with their musical counterparts, and like the album’s concept, the guitar work and percussion are organic and inherent. The similar melodies that course throughout lose their definitive, significant flavor around the last couple tracks, but that’s only because it’s been a long, tolling journey on my imagination anyway. I am stuffed with progressive-ness. One more serving and I might explode.
I love this cd, great review. Most bands are having are hard enough time just getting a great record out, these guys did that with a great theme to tie it all together. (y) (y)
I really did enjoy this review. Most of the time I read reviews to hear what someone who is much better with their words thought about it. I have heard alot of good things about Kaddisfly so I decided to read the review for any sort of hint as to why it may or may not be down my alley. I think any band would have loved their review to be like this one. I'm going to definetly check these guys out when I get home. I hope to fall in love.
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