Kimono Kult is a new Los-Angeles based band, centered around musicians with whom you are probably familiar. While the band is masterminded by Nicole Turley, it has garnered attention for being the latest John Frusciante/Omar Rodriguez-Lopez collaboration. Despite this attention, Kimono Kult does not want to be characterized as a supergroup “vanity project.” This label will be hard for the band to shake considering the wide appeal of Frusciante and Rodriguez-Lopez. In all honesty, if these guys were not in the band, I probably would have never heard them (which might not be a bad thing but I'll get back to that). Kimono Kult is rounded out by Laena Geronimo (bass, violins, trumpet), Dante White-Aliano (guitar, synths), and Teri Gender Bender (vocals, guitar). The band's sound on their debut EP, Hiding In The Light, is predictably eclectic, combining elements of latin, afro-beat, funk, jazz, and EDM influences. The album is very brief clocking in at around 12 minutes but is a sonic cluster stuffed with electronic manipulations and string arrangements, your standard debut EP stuff.
My first experience listening to Hiding In The Light was the pre-release recording the band made available on their Bandcamp page. A little more than a minute into the opening track, “Todo Menos El Dolor,” I began to dart around my various windows looking for the alien sounds that had crept into my headphones. Was it an intrusive pop-up ad? Or had I accidentally started a House of Cards episode, triggering the opening credits? My brief moment of confusion ended when I realized that the obtrusion was indeed an intended part of the recording. I continued listening and found that the rest of the EP was not much different.
Kimono Kult sounds like a project in which the word “no” or some variation of it were not part of the group's lexicon. There are no bad ideas here, just ideas, many... many... ideas. The aural density of Hiding In The Light is a trademark of Omar Rodriguez-Lopez, his previous bands At The Drive-In and The Mars Volta both pushed boundaries by embracing the avant-garde and unleashing controlled chaos. Kimono Kult seems to lack the underlying urgency and drive to support this level of experimentation and what we are left with is a cluttered shell that collapses under its own weight. The term “bad trip” gets thrown around a lot, but Kimono Kult may have succeeded in creating a recording that actually sounds like a bad trip. There are semblances of songs here, but they must be picked out of the swirling, disjointed wash of sounds. The EP is barely 12 minutes, but it seems like 2 hours, and I found myself confused and giggling for no apparent reason.
Fortunately, Hiding In The Light begins to redeem itself in its final, and easily best song “La Cancion De Alejandra” which layers tasteful flamenco guitar and trumpet over looping electronic percussion. The result is surprisingly restrained and gratifying. I realized something during this song; I like Teri Gender Bender's voice. She is capable of being both subtle and commanding simultaneously. It is unfortunate that she wasn't given enough space until the final track, because she is capable of really taking hold of a song. Sadly, this glimmer of light is too little too late to rescue this impenetrable acoustic mosh pit.
Grade: D
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