Kut u Up – Pulled Over

Kut U Up, a band that you have heard before, and maybe even seen live at the Pop Disaster Tour (Blink182, Green Day, Jimmy Eat World, Saves The Day and Kut U Up). They’ve been featured on such compilations as “Atticus: Dragin The Lake” and the “TransWorld Surf” video game. But in reality it is definitely not a band which you remember, or should remember for that fact.

As far as melodies go, Kut U Up brings something intoxicating to the table. Heavy drum solos, catchy guitar riffs, the works. It’s quite sad to see it all blown away by the horrible vocals in which Kut U Up uses. They go for a distant grunge sound in the vocals, mixed in with backup vocals either singing with the lead vocalist or apart. It seems as if they placed way to much effort in making this sound work. Normally, the vocals tend to go in nice harmony with the instruments, but in Kut U Up’s case, it is no where near perfect harmony. In fact, most of the time the melody must change its pace and volume in order to suit the needs of the vocalist. This really interrupts the song and quite frankly, ruins almost every single track on the CD.

Take the third track, JMS, for example. Starting off with a majestic bass melody which grabs your attention and your ears. But you know the vocals are about to come in as the beat slows down and gets overpowered by the drums. Of course, they enter, destroying a song which had great potential. Once again, after the first verse, the vocals stop and another great bass rhythm comes flying at you. Come the second verse, the beat is ruined again to go along with the vocals. Destination, the sixth track, is another perfect example of this.

Overall, it’s somewhat sad to see a band with some talent waste it all. Unless you were completely blown away by them at the Pop Disaster Tour or on a compilation then you will only find disappointment with the purchase of this album.