Kickstart – Kickstart
Release date: June 19, 2007
Highlights: Kickstart Theme Song, Harmonica, Stagger Lee, El Diablo
NYC has turned out some great rock & roll over the years and Kickstart is no exception. When their 2007 debut made it’s way to my desk it was like finding a jewel in the rough. Amongst a stack lifeless, uninspired music laid this CD and as I pulled it out and put it in my player, I hoped for a ray of hope and upon hearing “Kickstart Theme Song” I was hooked. When bands have “theme songs” it can really be a cheesy thing but this is a great way to introduce you to the band and what kind of world they occupy. I can almost picture an audience of Kickstart fans pumping their beers in the air and chanting “Rock & Roll is never easy” along with the band.
Kickstart’s sound is something familiar and at the same time some very comfortable. Lead singer/guitarist Eric Strickler packs all the energy and attitude of Mike Ness and Joey Ramone and delivers it with an energy and attitude that is all his own. While not affraid to wear his influences on his sleeve, Strickler’s songs are modern day old school punk Rock & Roll anthems. Bassist Fletcher plays with reckless abandonment yet manages to hold down the fort playing in a fashion that is similar to Lemmy from Motorhead, serving at times as a rhythm guitar more so than a bass. Drummer Mary Gatlin is the solid foundation that drives the whole thing home as she pushes the songs and really puts them out in the listeners face.
As a band, Kickstart is an anthem machine. When listening to songs like “Stagger Lee” and “Harmonica”, you can practically smell the stale beer, sweat and whiskey soaked breath of a tiny, dark hole in the wall. Before I knew it, the album was over with and I had to listen to it again just be sure of what it was that hit me. It was like getting hit head on by a fun, melodic freight train. Next time that train comes by, grab on and hold on for one hell of a ride.
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