Saturday, June 9, 2012

Kolya


For those who don't like to read: Kolya was one of a kind. Will probably forever remain one of a kind.

Back to the US for one post (maybe more, I don't plan any of this stuff). I've loved Kolya for years now, and it is all because of just how different they were (then and now). Kolya really just was a band that were themselves throughout, no effects, just their instruments and voices.

The great thing about Kolya is how jangly and 90s their sound was. The guitar never went into a twinkly mode, but they never really relied on chords to flesh out the sound of their music (the bass also sounds fantastic, but the guy plays a fucking Rickenbacker). I don't know who wrote the music for this band, but they obviously had a clear sound in mind that only they could've thought of, and they nailed it to a T. The guitar relies much more on wallowing around, following the emotional response of the vocals that are being sung. Also, yet again, the bass playing is fucking phenomenal.

Kolya - "The Story Becomes the Vehicle"

The second, and much more highly impressive quality, aspect of Kolya's music was the vocals. Simply put, no one did that way, no one still does it this way, and christ can a band start copying Kolya? Both vocalists do a great job (especially on the final track of the LP, Horizons), but it all really falls on the shoulders of the guitar player. I don't know what it is, but the guy has an amazing tonal quality to his voice. This, along with the straight poetry reading of their lyrics (that La Dispute tries and invariably fucks up, because they're awful) make for one crazy combination, considering their lyrics are fucking incredible (when I'm back home I'll do a scan of the LP insert). Their ability to just to basically talk through songs in a poetic way is the most special thing about this band, except for the track La Machine est Morte, the vocals are fucking irritating on that track.

Kolya ended up releasing a demo, 2 7"s, and an LP during their time around. Their LP is a crowning moment of 90s emo music as a whole, a true statement to the best music being made (their LP came out in 2001 though, but who gives a fuck? Certainly not me.)

6 comments:

  1. Yeah, this is good stuff. There's a Japanese band called Seth that does kind of a spoken word vocals thing over their music, but the music is more screamo-ish than this. This is really cool, though.

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  2. I have something by them that I listened to once and never again, maybe I should revisit it

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  3. re bands doing their vocals this way; obviously none of these sound exactly like it, but i feel reminded (in a nice way) of chris leo's singing (native nod, the van pelt, the lapse, vague angels), and also this band springs to mind:
    reiziger (belgium)
    http://reiziger.bandcamp.com
    drill for absentee
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yxmy9Y8ABVU
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3eXmmgEqPso

    these guys are very different, but i feel like posting their link anyway :D
    http://stevealbini.free.fr (all their songs up on their site)

    hope you'll enjoy what's new to you :) thanks for introducing me to kolya!

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  4. There was bands such as slint, native nod and the van pelt who did this. Although Slint would be the first since they were from the late 80's leaving Kolya being on of the last. Every track kolya made even the one you said that irritated you. The guitar are fascinating. That demo was there third release and goes under 1999 demo tape. The band is very good and were one of the first real emo bands along with the spirit of versailles, boys life, saetia, chune, lync, and I hate myself. I have also been trying to start a band with this similar style the mixture of math rock/emo/post hardcore (first wave)

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  5. https://robocobraquartet.bandcamp.com/album/iwazaru-mizaru

    Found this band from Belfast the other day. Beautiful.

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