Ten Kens- “Ten Kens” FatCat Records

Sometimes, very occasionally, you come across something pretty much by accident which turns out to be fantastic. You wonder what you did without it and you get scared at the thought that you might not have ever crossed paths with it. It basically never happens, but with the debut album from Ten Kens, it’s fucking happened.

 

The band come, virtually unheard of, from Canada and this is a truly great statement of intent. Opening song, “Bearfight”, is a brilliantly rare thing. Flitting between delicate, intricate guitar lines and thrashy bursts of powerful rock, the song keeps a steady pace throughout via the almost creepy, soaring vocals. “Refined”, meanwhile, is a little piece of brooding genius- all stark guitars and Thom Yorke style vocals. It’s as scary as it is addictive.

The band are, at times, reminiscent of Interpol, but where the New Yorkers are very concise and exact in their playing, Ten Kens are a lot more loose, often they let rip with beautiful, screeching distortion or meander off before jumping back to where a song began.

At the heart of Ten Kens is something very blackened. The vocals wrap around the trebly guitar giving emphasis of doom as well as helpless melodies.

However, they also have some surprisingly more accessible moments. “Worthless and Oversimplified Ideas” is almost like a twisted, sneering charade of a pop song. Like Joy Division covering an early Beatles song and smearing dark, distorted laughter at the idea all over it.

While this album is darker than dark, it has memorable hooks running through it like blood slowly down a knife. With any justice, Ten Kens will, at the very least, become cult heroes for years to come. This album, and this band, are worth your time and money without a doubt.

The album is released on the 15 September this year on FatCat Records.

www.myspace.com/tenkens

 Bearfight

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