Violent Mae

Kid (2015)

Greg Nahabedian

Violent Mae's first full length album since 2013's self titled release breaks the band free from any "two piece garage rock" stereotypes that might have been thrown at them. Comparing Violent Mae to The White Stripes is an obvious comparison and would've been appropriate two years ago. The two piece act writes plenty of reverb-laden, fuzzed out indie rock songs, just bordering on the edge of poppy, but Kid is a step above. The old influences are surely there but the maxed out reverb but has been replaced with a wall of new sounds and instruments from both members. The songwriting is fine tuned - playing on familiar structures with new elaborations. Rebecca's vocals only get better. They range from an almost operatic low to an absolutely dominating scream while moving through highly original and catchy melodies.

What's most striking about Kid is that no song really sounds the same, but the whole record is perfectly cohesive. There's the perfect mix of louder rock songs, slower ballads, and one or two solo songs. The album is well put together as a whole and not just a collection of songs. Everything is just varied enough to retain a lot of interest throughout and has a high replay value.

The band doesn't have any tours planned right now but their live show is not to be missed.