Four years, over 150 shows and support slots with Enter Shikari, Frank Turner, Baddies and Left Side Brain amongst others. Knievel Genius have made a nice little start for themselves on the London rock scene and branched out to touring with some of the big boys.
Their debut single ‘Daylight’ was released in summer 2009 and subsequently lead to the Kerrang! Unsigned Show naming them ‘Featured Artist of the Week’, with radio play on Total Rock Radio and BBC 6 Music by legend Bruce Dickinson.
The London-based foursome throws some powerful riffs around, which are much more melodic than you might expect. A fusion of their influences can be recognised on this two track single, bringing the genius of Smashing Pumpkins, At the Drive-In, Therapy?, and Nirvana into the present day and adding their unique metal and punk style into the mix.
‘Down with the Fairies’ has some massive riffs and powerful vocals teetering on the edge of screaming, and the boys themselves would appear to have some serious anger issues, but that’s why we love it. The harmonies are fantastic, the guitar riffs and drumming are faultless and the boys are sure to have blown up a few PAs in their time with this song.
‘Houdini pt. 1’ follows, adding pretty much nothing to the single, since after the bridge section nothing of note actually happens. However the music is rather haunting and creates an atmosphere that sticks with you. With this type of music we are hard pushed to find anything significantly different to the bands we have heard before, and Knievel Genius is no exception.
Still they do what they do, and they do it just as good as some of the frontrunners, if not slightly better as they modernise some of the old school. Knievel Genius will be appearing on the Kerbdog tribute album ‘Pledge’ alongside Frank Turner and others on March 8th, and will be releasing their own debut album later in the year. If they get it as right as their ‘Down With the Fairies’ single, we can assume they will be setting up camp on our radios for quite a while.
