I Kill Giants is an incredible mathy punk band from Boston. They have a few EPs and released a self titled album back in April. This album starts off with a short intro track that leads right into the second song so perfectly you would think it was one song. The whole album really flows like this. “Traveler” starts the album off as a simple song with a great tempo, especially in regards to the vocals. In the second song, “Larry Jr.”, starts off by screaming ” I just wanted to be, the face of neutrality, I never wanted to leave” which shows that this album is going to be intense with honest lyrics. This song has a great guitar riff and they move from one tempo to the next with perfect transitioning. Slowing down and being soft and going right to a catchy hook and then a heavier instrumental part is not something many bands can do well, and this band does it skillfully. “Part 1 – Part 2”, starts off as one of the fastest songs on the album with some great drum lines. Towards the end, the raw anger turns into sadness and then hope, the music and feeling changing seamlessly. Some great lyrics in this song. A few short, softer songs fill in some gaps and give the listener some time to think about these awesome songs and lyrics, but they are still wonderful in their own right. “Collector” describes the feelings of missing someone and the sadness that comes with it in some spectacularly honest words. “I feel fine when the stars align, I feel fine when my body is warm, you feel fine fucking all the time, it fucking feels cold.” is one line that is so direct it’s shocking. This goes for other lines such as “I think I’d rather not be sober”. “Part 3” is my favorite song on this album, going from a pretty sounding song to a raw soliloquy. The music changes as the emotions of the lyrics do, which is simply fantastic. Then the song goes to a spoken word part with a fast tempo that sounds awesome. The song is filled with lyrics about not being able let go, and ends with a part that begs to be sung along to, “Let me feel alive!”
All of the songs on this album are filled with the kind of yelling where you can feel the singer’s emotion coming through. The fact that they have two singers/guitarists that have such a great range gives this band the opportunity to do so much. In addition to the supreme bass and drum lines in every song, this band really is something. All the songs consists of riffs that make you bob your head and tap to the beat, even though they change several times in one song. My favorites off this album are “Calendar”, “Collector”, and “Part 3”. This is a great album with very catchy songs that you will find yourself singing and humming over and over again. You can stream it through bandcamp below. See this band if you ever get the chance, you can see my review of their show in Philadelphia here.
PhillyPunk 