by Matt Carney ’14

In the last decade, indie rock has become one of the most listened-to genres in music, and for good reason. Groups like The Strokes, Arctic Monkeys, Arcade Fire, and Death Cab For Cutie have expanded the popularity of a once boutique corner of the music world, and now a young band called The Kicks joins them.

The Kicks’ most recent album, Tonight Changes Everything, has quickly become one of my favorites. The record’s variety is its great strength. Tonight features songs like “1984” that echo The Strokes’ sound and style, but with an original, uplifting spin. Also excellent is “Hawk Eyes,” driven by the heavy lead guitar of Jordan Phillips that gives the song a powerful, adrenaline-pumping feel. The record also makes use of well-executed vocal harmonies – Phillips with lead guitarist Adam Stark and bassist Gabriel Anderson – as heard on “Big Star,” a reassuring tune that preaches, “Don’t cry/love will come back to you.”

The band has strong roots as well. When asked about the band’s origins, Philips answered, “We grew up listening to McCartney, Queen, Aerosmith, The Beatles, The Stones, Faces, The Byrds, Foo Fighters, White Stripes, Petty, Springsteen and the other godparents of the genre. We wanted to play music that made us feel the same way those bands had.” That is the ultimate motivation for a band: to replicate the experiences they had listening to their inspirations, and hopefully, for their listeners to feel the same.

In the end the key to the album’s success is its melodies. Phillips, while pleasant, is not phenomenal, but the songs match both his and the band’s skills perfectly. In other words, the band knows their limits. The arrangements are conservative, in the sense that they do not challenge the vocalist’s range too much. At the same time, the songs showcase the band’s strengths, like Phillips’ speed and drummer Lucas Cummins’ disciplined timing. More than anything the great melodies command the listener’s attention. Every song has some form of a suspenseful build-up that leads to a gratifying pay-off or chorus.

It’s rare that a group as exceptional as The Kicks can remain as unknown as they have. With Tonight Changes Everything, The Kicks have avoided a mistake many young groups make: offering one strong song surrounded by half-baked supporting songs. Instead, they have created exactly what an album should be: a collection of well-produced, original songs that you’ll want to hear again and again. I’m confident that choices like that, along with The Kicks’ musical skills and originality, will make them famous…and soon.