SILENCE KIT

Fortunately, I came across SK’s debut after having got into Pioenear and The Great Red Spot and after having found out how great the band is. Silence Kit is in some way a raw debut and, as in the majority of cases, doesn’t show band’s ability and skill in full.

Though their debut album is not a very strong effort, it's quite original. The band obviously looked for their own sound, varied their music from one style to another, tried to comprehend in which manner they should play. That’s why “Silence Kit” is full of variety.

Transmiss To Fades seems to me a bit senseless and dull. All I can say is that this track is just 5- minute’s ambient intro. Twenty Eight + Two begins with a cool drum loop and then some acoustic guitars give the song logical development. Some postern and almost hidden vocals follow the music and at 4:00 mark there is a nice moment with trumpets (if I’m not mistaken), which, I don’t know why, reminds me of some King Crimson or Van Der Graaf Generator stuff. At 5:45 the final (a bit heavier) section begins and closes the song very gently. Francesca White is my favourite song on the album due to its simplicity and positive mood. It’s almost a post-punk, but what a great song! Nice solo at the end of it. Lunik and Lunik: Ceremony are the most typical for SK from all the songs on the album. Here we can hear post-rock structures, however with a Pink Floydish flavour. Soul Departure, being very compact and laconic, for my money, is a real example of what SK is capable of and shows their paces. The epic pompously called Objects In The Mirror Are Closer Than They Appear, No=Fear is an interesting piece of music. It consists of some different parts - calm and heavy, ambient and aggressive. The song can be called even a progressive one, as it has a couple of tempo changes and psychedelic moments. All in all, a good closing of the album.

Well, a good album, but SK can do better. What they actually do nowadays! :) Overall, if one takes into account that it is a debut album, it’s nice. Actually nearly 3,5 stars, but 3 stars on PA.

I have to agree with Alexander (Paper Champion) here: SILENCE KIT's debut is no way an essential record. It gained cult status in Russian underground, and I believe it was a huge breakthrough back in 2002, but now whom would you surprise with music of that kind? ;)

Each track here is of different nature, even genre. 'Transmiss to Fades' is 5-min long ambient intro. 'Twenty Eight + Two' bears some shoegaze influences, but this is mostly brit-pop/art-rock thing. 'Francesca White' is energetic post-grunge radiohit (though I doubt SK would ever get a spot on radio, even with this song). 'Lunik', a shoegaze/dream-pop ballad, flows into instrumental 'Lunik: Ceremony', which is definitely first Post-Rock track here ;) 'Soul Departure' is another alternative tune, and closing 14-min long epic 'Objects in the Mirror...' is pure Post-Rock, with some obvious Prog hints here and there.

More than a half of the album was available free on Russian 'FreeMusic' site legally, and some tracks are still streamable both on band's MySpace and LastFM, but if you want to get the real SILENCE KIT, begin with 'Pieonear'. This is the thing to tear you apart! As for eponymous debut, it's good but definitely non-essential record, recommended for collectors and those who became interested after reading this all...thanks for reading, by the way!