Kites - EP KIT0003

Matthew Phillips, lead singer of Kites is a self-consciously melodramatic entertainer if ever there was one. Just take a peek at the blog he types on behalf of his band. “I write this entry as a witless nincompoop, unworthy of sympathy or misguided admiration,” he starts on one particular post entitled A Dedicated Follower Of Death – A Tale Of Mindless Stupidity. Later he vents frustration over what he sees as the countries army of cloned bibliophiles, all reading the same books on the tube; Stieg Larsson, Dan Brown and the latest Vampire-inspired trilogy. We think we can safely say that Matthew is unlikely to ever become a one-dimensional "I love my fans" pop star, but a fascinating pantomime pop poet he could be.

Matthew takes his sense of theatre into his groups music as well. You can hear it on their new 4 track demo EP KIT0003, unleashed to the world just a few days ago. The Disappearance of Becky Sharp, which we mentioned in a previous blog about the band is the stand out track, placing itself musically amongst the likes of The Human League, Heaven 17 and Depeche Mode, with an obvious New Romantic seriousness. Another song Art Tastes Better Blind, which also streams below, is a stately piece of black celebration synth-pop that delves deep into the UK music scene’s eccentric pop heritage.

The way that Kites project themselves is almost ludicrous, in the same way that when Hurts started releasing material they managed to wind people up with their elaborately camp pretension. This, we believe, is a good thing. Pop music needs to outrage, it needs stars with personality, it needs to shine with dazzling peculiarity, for otherwise all we’ll be left with is the likes of Westlife and The Saturdays. And nobody wants that do they? Now here's the music.

Art Tastes Better Blind by Kites

The Disappearance of Becky Sharp by Kites

Kites - Take The Reins (Video)

Earlier this month we brought you a new song and a new band called Kites. Next up is their video for the song we posted – Take the Reins – it was filmed by the folks from the Brit School – Film and Digital Art.

We’d like to draw to your attention several interesting facts about the film.

1. The band appear to have spent all of their money on their music because Richard Baldwin on ‘mechanics’ doesn’t seem to be able to afford a suitably tall table to put his laptop on, instead using some books to give him the extra height.

2. If guitarist Taio Renee-Lawson got off his chair and stood with his guitar as most band guitarist types do Richard Baldwin could then sit down at the table with his Apple Mac without having to risk a potential laptop wobble from the books. This would be more practical and sensible, but probably wouldn’t generate the required image that this band are a literate bunch and can actually read.

3. Except of course that just having a bunch of books under a laptop doesn’t actually show you read at all – just that you’ve got some books around the house.

4. Richard’s Mac is obviously not at eye level and therefore we would raise serious concerns as to whether the band carried out a health and safety display screen risk assessment before letting Richard perform in this way. We would conclude that they probably didn’t and therefore have put their friend / band member in risk of neck, shoulder and eye strain injury, which is not very safe and not even very rock and roll.

5. However, such a performance position was good enough for Kraftwerk (without the books) and is therefore good enough for us. As is this song, which is more than good.

KITES - Take the Reins from BRIT SCHOOL - FILM & DIGITAL ART on Vimeo.

Kites - New Waves

Remember when The Killers were exciting? When Hot Fuss brought electronic sounds into the indie guitar arena and made them seem arousing again? When Brandon Flowers even when he was appearing on the smallest of stages came across as a new cool and flamboyant star in the making? Well we get those same feelings about Kites. That’s not to say that they sound like The Killers, but there’s a link in terms of the aesthetic and way their music is presented.

This unsigned four-piece, formerly known as Remembering Everything create ambition fuelled pop full of drama and excitement. One tune, the spacey italodisco of The Disappearance of Becky Sharp, is the moment where the Human League, Kraftwerk and Erasure come together in a sequence of pulses and kiss for the first time. Even better is Take The Reins (streaming below) - a dazzling piece of cathodic beauty in which the bands not-so-secret-weapon - singer Matthew Phillips - croons his way to the heart. The man sounds like a pop-star and by all accounts his natural dandyish stage presence makes him look like one as well. Matthew not only has the songs but the character – read his ‘elevated prose that merits public ridicule’ as he describes his blog, to fully understand. His musings on everything from latent terror of becoming ill to his death threats to whoever stole his overcoat form a highly entertaining read.

But let’s focus on the music for now. Yes, there are big 80’s reference points in what Kites do but their sense of theatre and detail of the disco means that Kites still sound modern, fresh and delightful. They could fly.

Take the Reins by Kites