JESUS LOVES THE KENT 3
With every passing year, I become more of a KENT 3 fan, bordering on fanatic. I listen to their final three albums (“Stories of the New West”, “Peasant Musik” and especially “Spells”) every six months or so, and though I can’t say this about a lot of bands, with the KENT 3, I like to crank it. You know what I mean? Like windows rattling in the car? The mystery of these guys, is outside of a few nods to bands like Wire and The Fall (more imagined than real), they really were just a basic, vanilla, true-blue “rock band” at heart, albeit of the garage-rocking flavor. I saw them live a bunch around 1997-99, as they were at that time, to my ears, Seattle’s best band. I tried to capture the general je ne sais quoi of the band in this post on my old blog Agony Shorthand, which I’ll copy-n-paste here:
“….During my two years of residence in the rainy city (Seattle), the Kent 3 were one of the only local bands outside of DEAD MOON & MUDHONEY I’d regularly venture out to see. I think I caught them on at least a half-dozen occasions, and every last one was a great time. What does one call the style of rock they play? Garage? I guess….but the likelihood of their having any supporters amongst what we commonly think of as Crypt- or even Estrus-style “garage rockers” is pretty nonexistent. How about ROCK? Sure! Make that raw, occasionally straight-ahead rock seasoned with the weirdest, most obtuse sense of humor and lyrical wordplay you can imagine. These gentlemen are by no means dumb – there’s a sneaking suspicion I have, borne out in their lyrics and even in the twisting but riff-heavy music, that the Kent 3 are playing at a stratified plain just above the one most mortals occupy, and that they are so stifled and frustrated that they throw caution to the wind & just say “fuck it” when it comes time to compose a coherent lyrical or musical narrative. In fact part of the fun of listening to them is trying to figure out where Viv Halogen’s lyrical and philosophical thought train will take you in a song. It’s not meant to be “funny” per se (though it often is anyway), just “interesting”. And I hate lyrics!
This latest one (“Spells”) came out in 2002, a good four years after the excellent “Peasant Musik” emerged on Steve Turner (Mudhoney)’s SuperElectro label. I don’t know how I missed it, but then these guys are used to coping with a fairly low profile. Not even sure if they’re around anymore, really. I’d like to know. “Spells” definitely eschews some of the more mid-tempo meanderings of its predecessor for a lot more fired-up aggression, but even that is tempered by titles like “Man In a Woman’s Body” that sort of act as quiet, puzzling interludes for the rest. Halogen has a terrific voice, which is kind of curious when you consider that an incarnation of this band from a decade ago (“Screaming Youth Fantastic” ) practically fell down solely on their then-vocalist’s rotten set of pipes. I have to live with “Spells” some more, but from where I sit today, it’s their most consistent long player to date, Maybe their best. Yet if people truly vote with their wallets, then this is not a very well-appreciated band. You’ll have to factor that against my glowing appraisal and see if it’s worth parting with your dollar when you come across “Spells” in the used CD bins…..”
Since I recently went through a big dose of Kent 3 mania, I figured I’d let you in on the secret and post two songs each from those final three records. Seriously, they’re still out there, in used bins everywhere, when they should be safe, warm & at home on your hi-fi. Take a listen and I’m sure you’ll see what I mean.
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THE KENT 3’s ROAR BACK
A while back I posted some files from THE KENT 3 and got some pretty good feedback from the people on them. As mentioned before, this simple spaghetti-surf/garage punk/hard rock band are one the most simple & enjoyable bands in my “collection”, a band it’d be easy to ignore yet one I listen to all the time. I’m still partial to the “Spells” and “Stories of The New West” CDs, but this EP I’m posting for you today is the one that sorta woke folks up to what a great friggin’ band they’d become. See, they had this one LP from 1994 called “Screaming Youth Fantastic” that arrived with a thud, thanks to some too-rough, tuneless vocals and pretty uninspiring songs. I forgot they were even around until some Seattle friends clued me to “KENT 3 Mach II” around 1996, telling me that they were pretty much the best band in town, having ditched the vocalist and now rocking some of the strangest, funniest most obtuse lyrics around.
I bought the six-song double 45 they put out on Super Electro records in ’96 and was hooked. Moved to Seattle myself the next year, and they became my weekend live band. Saw them at The Break Room, the Sit-n-Spin, the Crocodile and elsewhere multiple times. I’m going to warn you on something, though – the first track on this one, “Basketball Medics”, is a little wacky and perhaps too cute/clever for its own good. I’d skip straight to “Satellite” and go from there, though completists always download them all. Enjoy.
Download THE KENT 3 – “Basketball Medics” (Side A)
Download THE KENT 3 – “Satellite” (Side B)
Download THE KENT 3 – “North End Bruisers” (Side C, Track 1)
Download THE KENT 3 – “Pinkland” (Side C, Track 2)Download THE KENT 3 – “Shooting Stars” (Side D, Track 1)
Download THE KENT 3 – “North End Baby” (Side D, Track 2)
