Album Review: The Kits - Lead Us Into Temptation

Cold post-punk drumming and distorted out Drones-style guitar fuzz kick off Open Season, the opening tune to The Kits' second record. “It's open season/It's not my time” vocalist Kit Atkinson slurs to us. Not your time? It's a little difficult to agree.

Fuzzy, hard-edged blues rock is certainly sustaining a longer resurgence than was thought possible way back in the early 2000s; the existence of this record (lovingly produced by Saints legend Chris Bailey) as an enjoyable and standalone piece of guitar rock'n'roll is proof of that. The surf rock grooves of Wild At Heart and the fun, hard-rocking and cheesy religious blues rock of Salvation show off the compositional styles of The Kits as well as any two songs might, but a growing sense of foreboding is setting in just ten minutes into this brief, 32-minute album.

Truly awful music (we are talking LMFAO-level music) beats you with its vulgarity, but it's the generic you really have to watch out for. On a casual listen, there really isn't very much to complain about on Lead Us Into Temptation, but when placed next to last year's King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard debut LP (a more obviously fuzzy and effortlessly fun rocker), the faults become obvious. The songs here blend together, despite their individual qualities and separate moments of odd excellence, such as the offbeat beauty of the title track.

Is this bad music? No. It certainly fulfils a need somewhere, but it really doesn't do anything anyone hasn't already heard. It's a shame The Kits didn't ask more of us, and us of them.