KICKING GIANT (USA)

ALIEN I.D.
-CD
1994 (K)


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"Rumors have it that bootleg cassettes of their early projects often trade hands in Japan and England for a week's salary...Kicking Giant composes such creative, almost visionary music in the midst of today's mass-produced indie rock that you can't help but wish them more commercial success." - Edwin Ong


"This NY Duo is all over the place. A man and a woman. They play very addictive pop at times. Then movie soundtrack type stuff. Then DNA noisy items. Hard to figure out but on the edge of some other reality. I like a lot of the songs and the mix is nice, like listening to the radio; lots of styles. I like the graphics and the direction. They may get better with age." - BdeV


"When the Pacific Northwest's underground punk music became the Western world's mainstream rock, one of the few bands to dig deeper into its bunker was Kicking Giant. The duo--guitarist/vocalist Tae Won Yu and drummer/vocalist Rachel Carns--became cult favorites in this region, playing raw, raucous live shows at venues like the X-Ray Cafe in Portland and the Capitol Theater in its hometown, Olympia, throughout the early '90s." - ALYSSA ISENSTEIN


"THIS PERFECTLY NAMED combo blows outta the K stable like a mortar. The indie label is frequently associated with more shambling, cutesy pop, and with mewling grrrl punk as well. K.G. references both, but its roots seem to extend deeper, back to late '70s Great Britain when groups like The Raincoats, The Slits, Mekons, ATV and others beat the post-Pistols tribal tom-tom loudly and lustily.

In other words, K.G. knows how to rock a three-chord progression when it wants to keep stage divers happy. And it also engages the brainier element in the audience by tossing in slightly askew melodies, trance-drone interludes, hiccupy rhythmic clatter and dissonant vocal harmonies." - Fred Mills


"The chemistry here is so even-tempered that the NY/Olympia duo have obviously contemplated their options well-beyond "love rock/punk rock/noise rock" and are making huge strides into rock-oriented compositional scores. Tae Won Yu ... combines the precise rhythm of surf-beat rhythm with a plucky melodic groove that always seems to suggest other instrumentation altogether. Rachel Carn whips up a frenzied stand-up/stripped-down beat meant for dancing and loving it." - J. Free


"From the opening guitar rev up of the title track, Kicking Giant's Tae Won Yu (guitar/vocals) makes a declaration of unadulterated indie rock. Combined with the primal-stomp drumming of Rachel Carns (played standing up à la Maureen Tucker), Alien I.D. proves just how unnecessary a bass player can be when making hook-laden indie punk-pop. What's most impressive about Kicking Giant is just how complete sounding their meager two instruments can be. From the cardigan sweater power ballad of "Drownings" to the Sonic Youth-style tone poems of "Inside out Flower and "Serrated Edge," there is never a feeling that something is missing. In fact, the addition of an excess performer, Sue P. Fox's irritating spoken work on "Town Idiot," is the only misstep on the album. The closer, "She's Real (Version)," crystallizes not only the lo-fi independent ethic of K and its founder, Calvin Johnson, but also the '60s garage pop lineage from which that sound was formed." - Joshua Glazer

Rachel Carns staples the drums.
Tae Won Yu drops the guitar.

Additional personnel:
Joanna Bronstein, Sue P. Fox (vocals); Tim Green (guitar)

Tracklist:
1. Alien i.D.
2. Appetite
3. Dreamland Burns
4. Inside Out Flower
5. This Song
6. Drownings
7. A Blonde's Blonde
8. The Town Idiot
9. Wire
10. Lucky
11. Dubious
12. Serrated Edge
13. She's Real (Version)

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