Record Label: Little House Records
Genre: Indie
Band Link: link
Buy on Amazon.com

I can usually determine what to expect from a whole album by listening to the first 45 seconds of it. Often my judgment doesn’t change too much with further listening; most of the time if I think it sucks from the beginning, I know it’ll suck throughout. However, unlike all the shitty screamo bands that carry a homogenous sound that makes them completely undistinguishable from other screamo bands, the WinterKids’ debut album Memoirs threw more change-ups in its first 45 seconds than all of the the other promos I was sent combined. Switching quickly and comfortably from a punky guitar intro to a mellower keyboard piece, and back into a dancy rock beat, the first song had me drawn in, and I stayed like that for the rest of the disc.

Yes, this is one of those albums that you start listening to, and realize that you’ve listened to the whole album with the same smile on your face the entire time, knowing that the music is awesome, fun, and relevant. WinterKids are undoubtably a young band, stemming from a small British town, and when they sing about the same old teen angst and relationship stuff, it’s far more believable because they’re not screaming it or whining it. They just sing it, with a great male vocalist and fun female backing vocals – although they’re better as backing vocals than as a lead. The production is top-notch, and they have one of those amazingly talented and reliable indie rock drummers who can sound absolutely amazing without doing anything too flashy.

It’s almost ironic that a band called the WinterKids could create an album so warm and summery. The songs are all fast-paced and energetic, sounding like a band who genuinely loved their own music. Their sound necessarily original, but the band is about as tight as they can be, with fantastic dynamics and some killer xylophone parts (hey kids, I can’t stress this enough, adding underused instruments almost always makes you music better). This is the type of music that I know the kids would love if they got a real listen to it, but alas, they’ll wallow in Fall Out Boy, Alexisonfire and Nirvana until the end of time and/or the calendar year.

What also makes this album great is that despite being a cohesive album, it has some amazing single tracks, like the killer leadoff Hear Me Out and the unbelievably addictive Tape It. Listen to either of these and you’ll want to check the rest of it out. This could be a band to look out for. They have the sound, the style, and the energy to really fucking own.

Bottom Line: Fantastically catchy and addictive indie pop. Tight, energetic, and always exciting. Don’t miss it.
Notable Tracks: Hear Me Out, Tape It, All The Money, Who Am I Kidding?
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