ALBUM REVIEW: Happy.Mad.Weird.Sad. – My Kid Brother

Leesburg, Virginia’s MY KID BROTHER have already earned some acclaim with the release of their self-titled EP back in 2021 – including from Billboard, Alternative Press and their own hometown paper, The Louden Times-Mirror. Formed when singer Christian Neonakis met drummer Sam Athanas at the local restaurant where they both worked, the band completed their line-up with guitarist/bassist Richard Smith and vocalist/keyboardist/synths Piano Whitman in October 2018, and now they unveil their debut full-length, Happy.Mad.Weird.Sad., which is out this Friday via Fearless Records.

This album expands upon the indie-pop sound of the band’s EP, and this can be seen from the very first song Never Break Your Heart. It is a mid-tempo song that is helped by backing vocals and synths. Whilst the song itself is not anything special, it is a nice start to the album. However, it also runs the risk of being unremarkable because it is so simple. Thankfully, things pick up a bit with Make You Make Believe, which is an indie-pop song with an upbeat tone. It shows off a playful side to the band. However, it does sound like it would be more suited to the position of being the opening song of the album.

The pacing of the album is a little all over the place. It ranges from disco (Disco Days), indie-rock (Paper Houses) to indie-pop (Shoulders). On the one hand, the dedication to being as diverse as possible in regards to genre is commendable. There is no reason why any band should be limited to one genre. However, there is a risk that it might come across as unorganised and a bit chaotic. This is not quite the case here, as the genres that are explored are in the same indie bubble. But having every song in a different genre is also a hard task to pull off. Ultimately for MY KID BROTHER, the results are a mixed bag.

However, there are some songs which do stand out. Spilt Salt has an upbeat radio pop sound that would fit on any indie movie soundtrack. It also emphasises the bass guitar, and it has an incredibly catchy chorus to match. High Society on the other hand is a grunge-tinged, moody song. It is also upbeat and leans more on the rockier side of things. These two songs are perfect examples of genre-mashing.

Overall, MY KID BROTHER‘s debut album is a lot of things. It is ambitious, original, and a lot of fun. It also lacks direction in terms of pacing, and not all the genres fit well together. However, that is only at the start of the album. The rest of the album evens out the pacing, and the band manage to pull it back together. Furthermore, as it is their debut album, it is not perfect, as no debut album is. Thankfully, there are some fantastic songs on the album, and there are some interesting influences, such as disco, that the band make their own.

Rating: 7/10

Happy.Mad.Weird.Sad. is set for release on October 7th via Fearless Records.

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