“Happy St Andrew’s Day!” says Stephanie Ward, Kill It Kid’s blonde-haired angel of the keyboards, to a Classic Grand crowd in town for Foy Vance. “It’s tomorrow!” somebody mischievously replies, and the band believe it too.
You see, between songs, the impossibly young Bath-based five-piece are not the same band whose rich, bluesy melodies floored me on first listen. They’re awkward, fumbling and absolutely adorable. It makes it easier to forgive them for being so disgustingly talented.
Ward and Chris Turpin, frontman and songwriter, provide the lynchpin of the band’s sound. If her vocals are smooth as spun silk, his are primal, evocative and otherworldly. It’s like Antony and the Johnsons after a pint of moonshine – a voice that’s bigger than the singer’s slight frame, bigger even than the stage. The effect is stunning, and sets the band apart as one to watch.
The frantic, chaotic “Ivy and Oak” is an earl standout in the band’s repertoire – two voices blending like the titular greenery with masterly fiddle and punchy, crunching guitar. “Burst Its Banks” – former iTunes single of the week – blends guttural blues with a more traditional country sound and “Send Me An Angel Down” is gorgeous, epic country-folk melodrama.
They might have had to pull the crowd forward a little mid-set, but it’s fair to say the band leave Glasgow with a fair few new fans of their own.
For more Kill It Kid check out their seasonal single – a cover of Low’s “Just Like Christmas” – available to download for free at www.killitkidchristmas.com.
Created with Admarket’s flickrSLiDR.
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