The Kiss That Took A Trip - Victims of the Avantgarde (self-released)

This album might seem an odd fit for a site like this that deals with, perhaps, more traditional music forms and more recognisable and established genres. But the more I listened to it, the more I realised that it would be an odd fit wherever it was posted, so why not here? And I say that not as a detriment to the music but to highlight its greatest triumph. It’s odd…and brilliantly so!

If you are one of those people who likes things properly packaged, wrapped and tagged with a neat generic bow and descriptive label, then perhaps you should stop reading now. I would say that there are elements of dream pop drift and ambient indie melodies to be found here, but for the most part, as you would expect with a title such as Victims of the Avantgarde the exquisitely named The Kiss That Took A Trip plays by its own rules.

The songs are relatively long, but that just reflects the time it takes to fully explore each particular sonic thread. Whether it is the skittering ambience of “God Bless Our (Holy Highways),” the searing guitars of “Sound and Immaculate,” the suitably in-keeping byzantine sonics of “Gordian Knot”, or the warped, Lou Reed-infused soundscapes of “Velvet Wall,” this is music like little you have heard before.

The great thing about Victims… is its ability to be thoroughly forward-thinking whilst retaining easy accessibility. It may not attract labels such as “mainstream” or “chart-bound”, but it is through such sonic experimentation that music moves on. Albums such as this might might just prove to be the giant’s shoulders that others stand on to see further…to not quite paraphrase the famous quote.

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