KIESKAGATO
Kieskagato (self-released)
Reviewed by Erick Mertz

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It isn't often anymore that you can listen to a band and find that you like that band because they don't sound like anyone else. Other than vocalist Josh Vasby's striking similarity to Radiohead's Tom Yorke, Kieskagato's got a unique thing going on, a frenetic, sometimes dizzying array of sounds and aural energy. They've taken the stirring elements of 70's progressive rock, integrated a grand orchestral styling, then given all of that a pop treatment; the results are infectious.

One listen to their self-titled EP feels like the start of something big: witness songs like "Dirty House" and "See You At the Meeting." The quartet of high school friends, late of central Wisconsin, now working out of Portland, Oregon, have been known as Room 101, and feature side projects System and Station and Vegas Lounge. It is evident that the entity now known as Kieskagato is a coordinated effort that is perhaps one step from producing some of the best recordings in the Northwest.

[Pick this up at kieskagato.com.]

© 2005 - Erick Mertz