Music Review // Rebel Kicks "somewhere.in.between"

https://open.spotify.com/album/0lrTm3X11KmkVuIaSgZXNo?si=SULWKI-sT3eNwJlCLdoC8A

Rebel Kicks have a sound of rock that borders on pop, but as they showcase with this EP- "somewhere.in.between"- the sound also can bring us back to the past.  I hear artists like Phil Collins in here, so I go back to those 1980's and 1990's sounds.  But at the same time, the way this music blends feels like it could go into the future.

The song "Past Life" quotes the album title and these songs are just so smooth.  "Flowering Dogwood" is moderately paced ballad, while "Feel Good" dives off deeper into the smoothness with a trumpt coming through as well.   The final song comes out more like an anthem, a big note to go out on, and it just overall demonstrates how Rebel Kicks have a complex sound.

Lyrically, these songs sing the titles in the chorus.  I am particularly fond of the song "Feel Good" because it discusses how we were told life was going to be something that it's not.  I think as children growing up we get this idea in our heads that when we're adults it's so much fun and we'll be able to do more things, but yet we spend our adult years longing for our youth.   How we become and stay happy, well, as the song says "Some day, I'm gonna find that answer".

What I like most about this EP and Rebel Kicks is that they're a surface level band that cuts deeper.  You can hear these songs and enjoy them and sing along without really putting much thought into it- if you don't want to.  But if you really listen to the music, you'll feel how complex it is- same with the lyrics.    This feels like pop of the future with hints of the past.  Perhaps the right now is that somewhere in between.