EP REVIEW: Kiss It Goodbye – Perfume USA
With influences from the likes of DEFTONES, SMASHING PUMPKINS, and HELMET, PERFUME USA have 90s grunge and alternative rock music in the palm of their hand. Hailing from Kansas City, the quartet consist of vocalist and lead guitarist, Jamie Woodard, guitarist Anthony Kearney, bassist Tyler Snowden, and drummer Travis Boaz and their new EP Kiss It Goodbye is the follow-up to their 2021 debut Charlie’s Angels.
This EP is notably shorter than their debut, with just three tracks instead of four. Angelfist is the opening song. It starts off with a slow guitar riff before exploding with energy. Woodard‘s snarling vocal delivery perfectly matches the high-energy instruments. Unfortunately, that high energy is restricted to the chorus, which means that the verses dip down quite a bit. On the other hand, the latter half of the song is mostly instrumental, so it more than makes up for the verses. This high punk energy continues into Smile. Whilst the instruments do unfortunately tune out the vocals, this is nothing against the band, as they sound like they are having a riot of a time. It is just the way that it has been mixed. It almost sounds as if the instruments are overcompensating for not standing out on the opening song.
However, it does transition into Tapeworm, which is the final song. It is the longest song on the EP, being almost six minutes long, and it is again mostly instrumental based. However, it is a mid-tempo song. Surprisingly, this does not slow down the pacing of the overall EP, but to be honest the song does feel a little tedious and it may lead some to question whether the almost six-minute runtime was worth it. It is great that the band are showing a different side to themselves; however, it sticks with one tempo and runs with it, which means that it can feel a little bit like wading through treacle. That said, PERFUME USA have to be commended for their ambitiousness, even if this song doesn’t quite hit all the right notes.
It is also worth bearing in mind that this is the band’s second ever release, and therefore it is ok to a certain extent that the EP is a little all-over-the-place. Perhaps the band still haven’t quite figured things out yet, although it does sound like they put everything into the first two songs, and then ran out of energy for the last song. Whilst there are some brilliant vocals and instrumental work, they don’t quite add up in the same song. But still, for a second release, it’s not half bad. It’s still early days for them.
Overall, whilst it might not be perfect, Kiss It Goodbye is a promising second EP. Although there are quite a few issues, such as with the pacing of the last song being way too slow, or the production on the second song meaning that the vocals are outshone by the instruments, thankfully, this EP definitely has heart and charm. The high-energy is fantastic, and – whilst it might not work as a closing song – the last song shows that the band are not afraid to take risks and experiment. PERFUME USA clearly have something charming about them, and although it gets a little lost in the noise, this charm could very well help them along the way in their career. This is still them trying to figure out exactly who they want to be. If they keep focused on high-energy punk and experiment a bit more, then they have a very bright future ahead of them.
Rating: 7/10
Kiss It Goodbye is set for release on May 19th via Setterwind Records.
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