According to the band, Extra Blue Kind has burst forth onto the national scene from “the country’s latest breeding ground for cutting edge independent music…Indianapolis.” Wait, so it’s not Portland, anymore? When did this happen? Is it just because they’re homophones, Indy and indie? Something seems off here. Just look at the name. Extra Blue Kind. Don’t tell me they’ve got a hidden track cover of Deep Blue Something’s “Breakfast at Tiffany’s” on here. No? Good. And what’s with that title? The Tide and the Undertow. Is that a Modest Mouse cast-off? Is this gonna sound like the uncalled-for mash-up of Tool and Darren Rademaker’s surf-psych outfit out of LA?
Answer: No (that’d be too interesting).
They make us think of Three Doors Down. They make us think of Sugar Ray. You know how Sugar Ray used to think of itself as a hardcore band before it went soft to sell millions? EBK seems of the same mindset. Especially during those instances when otherwise tuneful songs are marred by guttural screaming. EBK cites The Cardigans as an influence. Not sure why, maybe it’s because, ever since they first saw the video for “Lovefool,” they’ve wanted to bang Nina Persson.
“Out of My Hands” has a pleasant enough melody, until the chorus comes, and someone has to ruin it with, you guessed it, screaming on the backing track. Wasn’t this method of recording vocals forever outlawed once the world realized just how bad of a band The Vines really was? Same goes for the last ten seconds of the otherwise shimmering “Lipstick” – needless screaming. Please don’t do this, EBK, or anyone. It will only encourage Fred Durst to make a comeback. These histrionics, they must have served as a prerequisite to share the bill with Kid Rock, Creed, and Everclear, as EBK has done.
Forty minutes of mostly forgettable, meandering soundscapes, milquetoast and Midwestern, The Tide and the Undertow is buoyed only by “Holiday”. Coasting along on a cushiony bed of fingersnaps and a breezy guitar line, “Holiday” would sound right at home in a light FM drive-time music block, sandwiched between The Outfield and The Allen Parsons Project (no truculent warbling here).
So, in the end, who is Extra Blue Kind? “Not quite ‘hip’ enough for the hipster set, yet edgier than your average frat boy would bargain for,” answers the press kit. If they don’t keep writing songs like “Holiday”, EBK are destined to find themselves in the bargain bin.
For more info see: extrabluekind.com
