The Sexy Accident - Kinda Like Fireworks
Music Review
It’s hard to miss a name like The Sexy Accident. Score points for a catchy moniker. Guitarist and lead singer Jesse Kates, bassist Patrick Fent, and drummer Daniel Torrence are power pop pugilists fighting to express their views on those human strengths and weaknesses––love, lust, loss, and infidelity––that make life more than a to-do list. The band’s latest album, Kinda Like Fireworks, shows their finesse at delivering tightly composed pop songs that employ unusual time signatures and catchy hooks.
Ringleader Jesse Kates isn’t new at the recording game. He’s progressed from two instrumental albums as a member of Whitford to Sleight of Hand, a solo record of loop-based guitar music. Next, Kates formed The Sexy Accident and released Tourism, an album of indie pop with chewy hooks billed as Weezer meets Elvis Costello.
Kinda Like Fireworks follows closely in the footsteps of that Weezer meets Costello comparison. Lead track “Baby, It’s Not Cheating” jangles hard like a Ma Bell plastic telephone. The vocals and music jut with a herky-jerky pace, but it works once Kates finds the right gear.
“My Girl” is immediately catchy with its quick guitar hook, peppy drumming, easy-to-digest lyrics, and Kates’ staccato vocal delivery. “Gardener, Gibbet, Misery” slows down the pace and surges with emotional intensity. It’s honest and naked, stripped down to a guitar, bass line, and superb drumming that add crisp context between breaks in the singing.
“Flirting With Disaster” rampages like Godzilla moshing across Tokyo in emo-power pop mode as Kates sings about lust for a friend.
“Hey You” ditty bops on a great beat. Kates’ choppy guitar buzzes with a hornet’s nest of angst as he snips with hurt about the frustration of long distance between two people. These aren’t weighty subjects until you realize that something similar happened to you, or might, someday, somewhere. Then, it all makes sense. The drums and bass and guitar kick in behind that near snarl of vocals. Those two words––Hey You––become the most eloquent address, statement, accusation, and pleading ever uttered.
The compact hits keep coming in short order with firecracker pop of “Morning Drive,” the soft-edged longing of “Lonely Days,” and the poignant narrative of “Skies.”
This record rocks with the enthusiasm of a hormonal teenager, but with the perspective of an older brother who has gone down the rocky path of love and loss. Kinda Like Fireworks is a fun, energetic listen that plays out the thrill and ache, the scathing moments and soothing memories, that make us pursue relationships.
The Sexy Accident - Flirting With Disaster
The Sexy Accident - My Girl
Upcoming Shows - 2008
Friday May 9
The Brick, 11 PM
w/ namelessnumberheadman
21+, Free T-shirt w/ CD purchase.
Saturday May 10
Needmore Discs, 2 PM
Jesse solo w/ namelessnumberheadman
Free all-ages acoustic show
Sunday May 11
Zebedees RPM, 2 PM
Free all-ages outdoor show
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