Millencolin - Kingwood - 2005
1. Farewell My Hell
2. Birdie
3. Cash Or Clash
4. Shut Me Out
5. Biftek Supernova
6. My Name Golden
7. Ray
8. Novo
9. Simple Twist Of Hate
10. Stalemate
11. Mooseman's Jukebox
12. Hard Times
'Pennybridge Pioneers' was the first album I ever heard by Millencolin and I was blown away. Fun, melodic, emotive songs that stuck in your head. A highly acclaimed album which was going to be hard to follow. With such high expectations of the band, I guess I was a little dissapointed with 'Home From Home'. It retained that same Millencolin sound but just never hit me as hard as Pennybridge. The songs seemed to have lost that edge that set the previous album apart from a lot of the other punk bands of the time. To be honest I was expecting more of the same with 'Kingwood' but was pleasantly surprised.
Kingwood harks back to the more emotive stylings of Pennybridge while at the same time has a fresh sound that keeps the band progressing. 'Farewell My Hell' kicks off proceedings with a nice uptempo agressive sound that grabs hold and lets you know your in for a good ride. 'Birdie' follows suit, keeping things going with a thundering riff that leads into a rocking melodic chorus that Millencolin do so well. 'Cash or Clash' is a fun punk rock song that will definately have the crowds jumping on their forthcoming world tour. 'Shut You Out' wouldn't have sounded out of place a couple of albums back, lead by a nice picking riff and powerful chord progressions the song fires along and provides another strong chorus that will tug at your little heart strings.
'Biftek Supernova' is available to listen to on the official site - not really representative of the album as a whole, it's fast and will no doubt be another crowd pleaser live but there are better songs to be had here. 'My Name Is Golden' is mid-tempo, lead by a grungy riff which didn't really do much for me.
Skipping on to 'Ray' and we're in familiar territory, melody and melancholy with a rocking rythm and catchy chorus. 'Novo' is a softer song with bittersweet lyrics that flows along nicely and is stark in contrast to 'Simple Twist Of Hate' - The fastest song on offer here and also the shortest at a mere 89 seconds long, it's quite aggressive but will never be on a Millencolin greatest hits. 'Stalemate' is another solid song, with a thumping chorus and poignant lyrics, this is Millencolin doing what they do best. 'Mooseman's Jukebox' will set a live audience on fire and projects the same energy over your speakers. You almost have to restrain yourself from jumping up and down listening to this. So upbeat and full of excitement and yet again delivering a balls to the wall chorus that you'll be singing along to in no time (and also providing the album's name). Closer 'Hard Time' is a dissapointing end to the album, pretty standard rock song which leaves you wishing they'd stuck one more track on the end to remember the album by.
On the whole I really like this album, regardless of a couple of poor songs, and I'm sure I'll grow to
love it with a few more listens. A must-have for Millencolin fans, and highly recommended to any pop-punk fans who have -for some unkown reason- yet to hear any Millencolin.
Listen to Biftek Supernova
www.millencolin.com
Linear Mode
