Kemo Sabe - Kemo Sabe

Artist: Kemo Sabe

Album: Self Titled

Label: Self Released

Occasionally, an album cover comes along that inspires such curiosity that the artwork is solely responsible for my initial interest.  This was the case with Kemo Sabe's self titled debut.  It's a rare case where the cover art perfectly captures the audio.  Kemo Sabe's cover features a beautifully painted abstract representation of the band gripping their instruments, surrounded with their various musical essences, all encompassed in a furious blaze.  With such fantastical  album art even before firing up the first song I just knew that Kemo Sabe would have a fast, furious interpretation of something traditional.

Kemo Sabe employ traditional bluegrass instruments, but as suggested by the clever transformation of the acoustic guitar's shotgun handle, the band approach their bluegrass setup with explosive punk overtones.  In other words, Kemo Sabe is to bluegrass what The Andrew Jackson Jihad is to folk music: a band that respects traditions without following them itself.  On songs like "Mess in My Head" and "Since the Baby" lead vocalist Cary Kirk masterfully plucks his mandolin faster than humanly possible with chord progressions that survey cultural influences from Southern country and folk to traditional mexican.  Meanwhile, Simon Olson's strums his guitar in the background with considerably more reserve.  Olson's restraint is an essential part for grounding Kirk's mandolin against a melodic, coherent musical backdrop.  Meanwhile, the third and final member, Nick Mitchell, vigorously slaps a deep standup double bass, counterbalancing the mandolin's naturally high notes.  The band recognizes the strength of its instrumentation and places a heavy emphasis on complex instrumental bridges, especially in the fantastic instrumental track "Fhlezmer."

Although the instrumentation definitely steals the show, the lyrics also deserve attention.  Song names and lyrics have an equally abstract essence to them.  For example, the oddly named "Shape Shifting Lemming Skull" features moments of poetic insight as Kirk sings "I have never hurt no one more than they could heal/and I have never hurt you girl more than you could feel."  Other songs tackle big questions like with intelligent lyrics.  For example, "Little Jimmy" succinctly tells the tale of a drunken man's fight with his girlfriend, and how one simple aggressive decision caused her unintended death.  The band also has a good sense of humour.  In songs like "Dirty Boy" the band humousously makes a case for personal hygiene: "you better wash your mouth, wash your hands/no one likes a dirty boy/keep those damn things good and clean/no one likes a dirty boy/Cleandliness is friendliness/and dirty boys don't have no friends." 

Kemo Sabe's self titled debut is a curious result that should easily find followers in fans of unplugged, acoustic inspired punk.  The band's integration of various influences with a furious tempo produce a curious allure and hypnotic draw that won't soon stray from memory.