The Kindness Kind

Posted by Nikki Benson on April 14th, 2009 at 1:36 AM

To See Rating 7/10
Just curious Rating 7/10

Band Members

Nicolas – keys, beats, comp
Charles – guitar, keys
Alessandra – sexy words, vox
Bryce – bass player extraordinaire
Kevin – drums

I’ve seen The Kindness Kind five times in the past couple of months and I can attest that you can count on a good show. At the foundation of their appeal is their full sound. TKK fills up their sound with strength of the standard instruments and then accentuates them with the dreamy nuances of keys and vox. They master having their sound be about as full as it could be without crossing the line of it sounding discombobulated, cluttered, and busy. It’s just full enough to get down into it, but it’s not too full.

They have a great musical sound but this is a vocal centric band; so what’s up with Alessandra? I’m pretty much in love with her right now. She’s got this power that is perfectly tempered. Her voice can have the same aesthetic as a piano played staccato; you can almost see the hand bouncing from key to key playing her. She can also have this deep passionate moments that stem from the reality in her lyrics. Looking at the song The Lusk Letter, there is a dynamic that is set between boy girl that is common, but in each situation is perceptively unique. Alessandra puts an honesty in her delivery that invites you to put yourself into her scenario and let it wash over you as if it were your own. When she sings the lyrics “I won’t be caught up in your mind’s eye” she has this fiery desperation that starts from her eyes and spreads throughout her whole body. Passionately honest, Alessandra has feminine charm too. When she wants to be subtle and sexy, she is a vamped minx.

Visually is the only place where it’s a little bit of a mixed bag for me. The stage presence of the band in general is average, where I’m left wanting more is with Alessandra. She moves about a little on stage, shimmy’s her shoulders, and has a little bit of a the rock-out thing going on with her head. Her stage presence isn’t horrible, but in comparison to her vocal presence it seems timid and confined. It looks as if she possesses talent but would rather not perform live because she is actually very shy. That hypothesis, if true, would be understandable but it makes it difficult to get as fully into the music when it seems a bit unnatural. I did mention earlier the fire in her Alessandra’s eyes; that is there, but when it comes out in an honest moment of expression you need to be close enough to see it. Putting stipulations on an experience diminishes it slightly because it makes it circumstantial. On the flip side, having to be close to the band creates the impetuous to get to there early because it is a very personal experience that I would recommend being a part of.

Speaking of future shows, you might be wondering, “Why aren’t there any scheduled?” Seattle’s Sweethearts are on a bit of a break between drummers, but the are up to things. I asked Nicolas for the inside scoop and here’s what he had to say:

When are you going to be booking shows again?
“We do have a couple not-100%-confirmed shows coming up on the horizon, but I think we may be killed by somebody if we mention them yet. But to really answer your question, it’ll be a few months.”

Have you been writing new music/are you going to be changing your live set?
“We’ve [recently lost our drummer, and have] been using the downtime from shows during this drummer quest to work on both completely new things, and things that have been floating around for a bit begging for attention. I’d say that so far we have 7 or 8 new songs in various states of completion.”

Why did you lose your drummer?
“He decided he wanted to leave for a number of personal reasons. It was unexpected for sure, but we understand his reasons and appreciated that he played out the last shows we had booked. It was totally amicable, and we’re all still good friends.”

Has loosing your drummer stunted the growth of your band in any way i.e. writing music and the obvious, playing shows?
“I wouldn’t say it has stunted our growth so much as forced us to grow in new ways… it’s actually been nice because we’ve been taking extra time to really conceptualize and think about a new approach to the songs and how they might fit together. That being said, we’re looking forward to bringing a new drummer onboard and getting back on the stage!”

So we will be getting more of Seattle’s beloved band very soon. All and all, I would say that seeing The Kindness Kind live is like having a glass of champaign; it’s class, a little girly, it tickles on the way down, and it makes you feel giddy.

Please enjoy The Lusk Letter and Houndstooth performed live at High Dive April 3, 2009.

The Lusk Letter