Labels: Blood of the Young
Review by: Andy Malcolm
Now this has been a little while in the making. Probably been two years since it was announced or something. Time flies.
Khayembii have always had a good rep with the uber nerdsome screamo record collector kids (of which there are legion). They did one 7″, and mighty fine it is too, you can find a review of it on these very pages if you are bored. As far as I know, these are their only other songs and they are no longer together. They do 4 tracks of bludgeoning melodic screamo, fitting in with all the other good bands from 1998-2000 that played this sort of thing (ya know, Saetia, Portrait, Spirit of Versailles, I Robot). “Better Times Are Better Left Dead” has a chunky sounding twinkle emo intro that is totally like Still Life, then it hurtles into spiralling guitar. The vocals are harsh and wrenched, but not screechy, and they also have kinda emo-pop singing vocals on here too which is a combo that I normally don’t go for, but it works for KC, much like how it works for bands like On The Might of Princes. “Lacking” also builds in that moody Still Life style, kind of bubbling before the explosive parts. They also throw in a piano on this one. Not literally, they play a piano. Throwing one around would make quite a racket. There’s an idea for Black Dice or something I guess.
The Vida Blue songs are from 1999, and they sound it. This is off kilter and unique stuff, mathy and sometimes jazzy rhythms fused with double manic vocals. Thick emo grooves and lots of rolling on the floor. No question they are an amazing band. I love the way the main whiney singer cries and screams and just makes me want to spazz out. I don’t think this stuff is as good as either of the LP’s but it’s still great. Also If you are not geeky enough to press refresh on screamo message boards 100 times a day, you might not be aware that this band is now called the Ten Grand, because of a Phish side project being called the Vida Blue. I still think they should have changed their name to Rollie Fingers or Catfish Hunter. I rock at the baseball.
Pretty shit hot record for those who appreciate the melodic and more emo end of the screamo spectrum. The Khayembii songs make this a keeper.