Immediate and compelling live document of career so far.
This album is not what the general public require at this time from Whitney K. It is, of itself, a raw, raucous and intimate thing to be savoured. You can feel the sweat in the room and sense the tension in the neck as notes are reached and emotions poured out. The nearest comparison to be made is ‘Lou Reed – Live – Take No Prisoners’ although Konnor Whitney, to give him his full name, doesn’t disappear into a drug-addled, profanity-strewn ramble at the start of every song but he does have the same urgent yet deadpan vocal delivery sitting on top of a garage rock base all squally chords and feedback drones.
The album showcases all the key songs from the first two official releases. The band are tight in a Modern Lovers way and by God it feels sophisticated and primitive. The production puts the listener right in the room and it’s a cracking night. There are no frills here although ‘While Digging Through Snow’ has a stately sonicism with its spoken delivery and segue into the heartbreaking ‘Song For A Friend’. They are the centre of this album, the artist knows his best work. None of the production values of the ‘Hard to be a God’ EP. And as a live document, it could be argued, all the better for it.
However, we cannot forget the opening sentence of this review. What the general public require at this time is new material. ‘Hard to be A God’ was a stunning release and needs to be followed up. This will do for now but let’s have some more new material soon please, Konnor.
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