KITSHICKERS - So That's The Miracle Of Life

6 songs
57:39 minutes
***** ****
Winged Skull

Bandpage

If their first album was still a bit immature, and their two next album sounding as if they were looking for an identity, album number four, So That's The Miracle Of Life, shows that it only took a new rhythm section for the Kitshickers to finally make that one album I really like. Of course a lot of work must have flowed into this epic monster, as it took them more than two years to release it, but hey, in the end it's the music that counts, and there are nearly no complaints left this time.

Those who got the last Winged Skull compilation know already the album opener And What Else Do You Need, which comes immediately after a spacy opener. All of a sudden we can forget that this band comes from an alternative background. The new rhythm section (Kunn trumpeter on the bass guitar and former Raquel Barreira fronted Brainchild drummer) whips the song forward in a true stampede manner, with the guitars screaming a repeating melody that's digging itself in your mind. Even Gilles' vocals have improved, or we have got used to them after nearly ten years... who knows?

From here on it's important to know that this is not a typical songs album, like they did three times in the past. So That's The Miracle Of Life can be considered as a nearly one hour long composition, therefore the following To Be Happy Again is much more psychedelic, not showing much of a rock song until the last few minutes. Cause Your Whole Life is another long song; in fact the songs are getting longer and longer, starting with the two minute intro, followed by the nearly seven minute long opener and ending on a seventeen minute longtrack that was partly recorded live due to time restrictions. Until then we can enjoy a swing part played by members of Toxkäpp and Kunn. You Knew adds a lot of aggression to the album, with dEFDUMp's Usel contributing some screams.

So That's The Miracle Of Life is not an easy listening album. The opener, which is also featured as a video track, is the only time you hear the band song-oriented, from there on it sounds like a psychedelic jam from a band that didn't forget to put enough structure into the different parts in order not to put off the audience. In the end ambition won over pretension and Kitshickers can declare proudly that they not only have released their best album yet, but also one of the more original albums to be released in Luxembourg in a very long time. Even if you didn't like the Kitshickers in the past, it is really worth your time and efforts to give their new album a chance!