Kissing Party

With haunting synths that recall the first three New Order records and a charming collection of songs that otherwise echo the Smiths' twee moments as fed through a Wall of Sound, Rediscover Lovers, Kissing Party's new disc, finds the act imbuing its dependably upbeat and catchy tunes with distinctively neo-romantic...

By Tom Murphy

September 20, 2007

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With haunting synths that recall the first three New Order records and a charming collection of songs that otherwise echo the Smiths' twee moments as fed through a Wall of Sound, Rediscover Lovers, Kissing Party's new disc, finds the act imbuing its dependably upbeat and catchy tunes with distinctively neo-romantic undertones. Everything about the album's sound is rooted in the lo-fi aesthetic, yet the instrumentation is so delicately and beautifully arranged that it never seems like the product of lazy slackerdom. The songs themselves are steeped with a palpable sense of nostalgia. As raw yet melodic male and female vocals intertwine, intoning about life's quietly poignant moments, the music chimes and shimmers around them. The overarching theme seems to be that although we all endure life's slings and arrows from time to time, we're renewed simply by remembering why certain people and the seemingly insignificant experiences we shared made us smile in the first place.

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Tom Murphy is a writer, visual artist and musician from Aurora, Colorado. He was a prolific music writer for Westword and a documenter of the Denver music scene.

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Twitter: @simianthinker