By José Gandue @spinning zone

Photo by Gustavo Canales 

There are albums that you don't know you need until you listen to them for the first time.

I hadn't received much information about it for quite some time. Slowkiss, since his previous album, Patio 29, It had been published in 2019 and after the interesting boom it had caused among scholars who are fans of shoegaze, grunge, punk and similar genres, We knew little to nothing about Elisa Montes and her bandmates. Well, during all this time, this Chilean band restructured, and while giving concerts in various parts of the world, including the occasional European festival, they created new material, which we can now finally listen to under the very short title KO. And the truth is, they're coming back stronger than ever. 

Published and distributed by the German label Gunner Records, This album shows that, during the time between the first album of Slowkiss And so, the band has matured and hardened its sound. It feels as though, without abandoning its aggressive punk spirit (we can observe this in their tenth track, Sound of Salvationnor rejecting its origins shoegaze (as heard in Pulling me back), Montes and his colleagues now seduce their audience by resorting to their resonant blender with more substance stoner, More dense textures, more combative identity. Here we have forty minutes of caustic music, which, amidst its intense noise, He never deviates from his intention to reach the masses, through a sonic and melodic breadth that goes beyond limiting tribes. In that respect, Slowkiss learned well the lesson inherited from legendary names like Deftones or Smashing Pumpkins, who know how to make tunes that can be played on the radio and attract an audience less affiliated with the closed circles of rock. Likewise, they never hide the original substance with which they were raised.

This is a flawless album, But if they ask us to highlight the brightest moments, We can point to three songs. The first one is Fast Food, which seems to be the borderline recording between the sound of five years ago and the acceptance of a more corrosive texture. Then comes Dreaming, a break amidst the general din, a kind of ballad with prominent guitars and a slow, unloading feel. And if we're going to talk about what some eager fans might call the hit for the masses, we turn to... Girl United, a two-and-a-half-minute scream that could become a new women's anthem.

Do you remember what I told you at the beginning? Okay, listen KO. I'm sure more than one person will realize what I'm talking about when I say that This album becomes essential from the moment we hear it for the first time. Give yourselves permission to listen to it, and see if we agree.

Additional note: If you don't have Spotify, and you'd like to listen to this album and perhaps buy the vinyl, check out Bandcamp: