The group create dreamy synth-pop in a very literal sense, in that they try to create a musical soundscape where songs are dreamt up from a collage of undulating synth sounds. They very much subscribe to the Phil Spector style of music creation, with a thick wall of analogue synths permeating subtly through the vast majority of their music. Whilst Kindest Lines openly cite Spector as a key creative influence for their music, the group are also very much indebted to bands like The Cure and Echo and the Bunnymen, from the varied synth and drum machine timbres, to the guitar sounds, which are jangly and reverb heavy, with plenty of modulation and flange effects laid across most of the guitar parts. Such guitar styles are particular evident in key tracks such as ‘Baltimore’, and their recent single ‘Destructive Paths to Live Happy’.
Whilst Kindest Lines describe themselves as synth-pop, unlike the work of artists like Holy Ghost! or LCD Soundsystem, Kindest Lines utilise synth sounds whilst containing with more traditional instruments. When this instrumentation is combined with Brittany Terry’s soft, cool, despondent and distant vocals, Kindest Lines’ music in reality sound much more similar to dream-pop, reminiscent in particular with the likes of Au Revoir Simone and The Hundred in the Hands.
Kindest Lines create music that is essentially cool, calm and contemplative, without being overtly cold, negative or down-beat. It is an obvious comparison to make perhaps, but the Kindest Lines’ work is in a way very similar to the history of their home town of New Orleans – containing smatterings of positivity, through their invention of jazz and the New Orleans Mardi Gras, mixed with sober trials and tensions that permeated from the BP oil disaster and hurricane Katrina.
Kindest Lines have no concrete plans for any tour dates in the UK, but they have a number of gigs scheduled throughout the rest of 2011 in the US.
See this at TGA at: http://thegirlsare.wordpress.com/2011/08/31/introducing-kindest-lines/
