With Waiting for the Time To Be Right, Providence,
RI’s the Brother Kite creates narcoleptic beach
music for urban indie kids. Shedding the frenetic lead
riffs of surf rock, the album centers around a constant
barrage of rhythm guitar that has been sculpted by
the influence of poppy post-postpunkers like the Wedding
Present – and more recently the Oranges Band
(with whose The World and Everything In It this
disc shares a suspiciously similar resemblance both
in general sonic aesthetic and sun-dipped waterscape
cover art). Beginning with the playful instrumental
opener, “The Coat of Arms,” magnetic melodies
and cascading guitar work create a solid collection
of clothes-shedding, saltwater pop rock.
“Out Of Sight” is a soft ebbing undertow
of vaguely psychedelic powerchords and a throbbing
blend of lively tambourine and jingle bell stomp. The
vocals are submerged within the mix, floating just
under the surface until they majestically melt into
the climactic guitar upsurge. “Hopeless and
Unsung” vocally resembles Robert Pollard chipping
away at Pet Sounds-era Brian Wilson, while a
vat of never-ending reverb sustains melancholic chords
beyond the extension of fading memories. The Brian
Wilson similarities reach a climax with “Lay
Down Your Burden” (one of Wilson’s best
solo cuts is 1998’s similarly titled “Lay
Down Burden”), where Shins-style rock swirls
into a harmonic canon of fuzz guitar.
The powerful pop eccentricities and escape-the-tedium
storylines of four-four rockers “Get On, Me,” “Hold
Me Down” and “Bringing It Back Home” provide
the disc’s best cuts: pop gems of lost hours
and jubilant melodies (especially on the Cure lite
introductory riffs of “Get On, Me”).
With Waiting for the Time To Be Right, the
Brother Kite catches a heavy nostalgia drift (indicated
by the anachronistic inclusion of “Side One/Side
Two” track list headings) that while tending
to value skilled emulation over divergent innovation
still yields a gorgeous soundtrack to sun-spangled
beach days.
Favorite Track: Track 6, “Hold Me Down”
