Band members have reacted angrily to complaints about the lack of vocals and if the album stood alone, then it would be feasible to review it without wondering what if, but as we are constantly reminded of the debut with decent enough vocals by J.Jarosz (especially as four of the songs from it are repeated minus voice here) then it is impossible to listen and not wonder about whether it would have been a better album with vocals.

Is this a good idea? Well... yes and no. After listening to the album you're left with a definite sense of something missing. Wholly instrumental albums aren't unheard of, but this is probably a first in the southern/stoner rock genre that K2B are placed in. Other bands do it and it works (eg: Mogwai) so why doesn't it quite pay off here? It could be the style of music. This is no frills rock with plenty of groove and energy, but shorn of all excess right down to the absence of vocals it somehow fails to lodge itself deep enough into the listener's subconscious. There are plenty of hooks on offer, but without vocals the album still drifts by without making quite a big enough impact. This is again perhaps due to comparison with the last album where we were treated to Jarosz lustily delivering lines about "drinking whiskey" and "getting high" and this time around we are reduced to mere numbers for song titles. Some might see the removal of the voice as enabling the listener to concentrate on getting off on the music and this is to some extent true.

Perhaps I'm being too harsh. This is a quality album, make no mistake. It is simply impossible, however not to wonder if it could have been something more, especially when you consider that for a time they were working with Kyuss legend, John Garcia. Still it could have been much worse as they have, more recently expressed an interest in recording with Fear Factory's Burton C. Bell. (7)

Roadrunner Records

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