Album Review: Kid You Not – Thanks, I Hate It

Floridians Kid You Not have returned with their new album ‘Thanks, I Hate It’, their second for Deep Elm Records; the label celebrating 25 years of being an iconic emo independent. The quartet have honed their sound over a couple of self-releases and their 2017 debut ‘Never A Dull Moment’, with this promising to be “..familiar, yet bigger..seeing the band at their best.”

“Staring at the ceiling fan, I’m feeling the disconnection..” barks lead vocalist Patrick Drury, as invitation to the album. “The songs on this album resonate with what we believe a lot of people have felt this year in regards to personal struggles with mental health,” says bassist Justin Pritchard. This sentiment of shared experience is echoed across the album, with the majority of the band’s lyrics coming from the ‘we, us, our’ viewpoint – coupled with the extensive use of gang-style vocals, track after track absolutely begs a chest-beating scream-along. As ‘Here’s To Those Who Wish Us Well’ segues into ‘And Those Who Don’t Can Go To Hell’, all this becomes clear. The band switch gears – thunderous drums, meaty chords and flashes of intricate instrumentation create a brilliantly brash backdrop for Drury’s gruff timbre to cut through. First single ‘Fantastic Drugs and How To Take Them’ follows, showcasing the direct and heartfelt angle the band come from.

As well as meticulous musicmanship and clever song titles, Kid You Not deal a nice line in battered and bruised imagery. Pritchard continues: “It addresses those feelings of depression, loss, and uncertainty. 2020 has been a roller coaster of seemingly endless despair, and that has weighed heavily on a lot of us and has certainly taken a mental toll.” Check, for example, the achingly anthemic chorus to ‘Agony Breathing’ – “These scars are our tattoos, designs that we didn’t choose..” reflected neatly  in the title track’s “I’ve got a delicate heart and the scars to prove it..” refrain.

The second half of the record begins in similar vein to the first, with ‘Condolences’ serving as an almost-intro to ‘The Bums Lost’. There’s more of the uplifting chord progressions, timely tempo changes and soaring vocal lines to savour. It’s kind of at odds with, but also a perfect vehicle for, the disenchantment (thanks 2020!) threaded throughout – “..disregard and disobey..” “..shallow breathing, out of breath, there’s simply nothing more we can do..” ..”we’ve taken too much damage..” – that will drain lungs in unison.

Flawless, I kid you not. 

Like impassioned expositions, driven by strapping power-punk? ‘Thanks, I Hate It’ is available digitally through Deep Elm and on vinyl via Bypolar Records. Kid You Not have Facebook, Twitter and Instagram pages to follow.