Music Review
Band: Kevin K and the Real Kool Kats
Title: Rockin Roll Dynamite
Guest Reviewer: Sam Keck of Blindsense

Rock

Upon first listen to the new album 'Rockin Roll Dynamite' by Kevin K and the Real Kool Kats, all I could think of was, wow does this guy want to be Iggy Pop. From the opening chords of 'Down in the Sewer' to the second to final track, which coincidentally is a Stooges cover of 'Death Trip', all I hear is a bland version of what The Stooges were doing more than three decades ago.

Now it's not just the fact that The Stooges cloning is so apparent that brings this CD down. What outweighs that by a long shot is what is quite possibly the worst lyrical performance I have heard in quite a long time:

LYRICS

"What to do, who to be, where to go, to take a pee, oh maybe behind that tree..." from 'Life in a Ditch'.

"I can't believe the guy she thinks the world of, she needs to get her eyeballs checked, she's so hot with junk in her trunk, I hope some day over you I get" from 'Hillbilly Man'... every time I hear this song I can't help but actually laugh out loud. Hip Hop terminology has never been more out of place since honky tonk badunkadunk.

There are actually a handful of decent songs on this effort including 'Call' which is an optimistic song about finding a new love after a breakup. 'Going Nowhere Fast', 'All Fixed Up', and 'She' are the other standout tracks, all of which seem to be a bit more upbeat and almost verging into Pop territory.

It almost seems that Kevin K and the Real Kool Kats suffer from putting out too many albums in too short of a time frame, 14 since 2000 to be exact. They should've just taken the 4 decent tracks off of this album and made an EP.

The overall production of 'Rockin Roll Dynamite' is fairly clean and suiting of the band. Recorded entirely in France at Subsonic Studios it's got a very suitable Garage Rock sound. The guitars are very well done and played very well, the bass lines are right on and in place and compliment the guitars and accent where needed, and the drumming is a bit bland and mundane but it does the job.

If you are a huge fan of Iggy Pop and the Stooges this might be up your alley but in my opinion if you want to listen to The Stooges you shouldn't bother with this watered down version.
Music clips
Official website