KTop is a long-running Iowa original rock band with a very 90s sound, wearing their grunge roots on their sleeves while incorporating pop elements in their songwriting.  They’re an unabashed, flag-waving, make-no-bones-about-it, genuine article Rock Band, which, in this age of genre-splicing and style-aping, is a rare and beautiful thing.

“Freakshow Maggie” is a 5 song EP from the band, and though it came out earlier this year, it’s just now made it my way.  It’s an album of rock songs, played by a rock band, and by that I mean there’s rock guitar on it, with guitar solos where they’re supposed to be in the songs.  And they wail.

Opening song “Faces” features delayed and distorted guitars, arranged well, with an emphasis on texture and tone.  The power ballad “Drying Out” has lots of little snaggly guitar hooks.  And the song “Goodbye” has guitar melodies all over the place, and staccato chords punctuating the groove, before building to an exploratory solo on the bridge.

But it’s not all just about the guitar.  KTop has solid songwriting chops, and over those guitar textures, there’s vocal harmonies, and there’s also a killer rhythm section to keep it all together.  “Faces” has some great sounding driving drums, for example, and sounds very live.  And “Goodbye” has a nice booming bass in it to anchor the tune, while “Push to Touch” seems built on the throbbing bass line from the ground up (the song builds to an insistent rhythm, before crashing into a piano comedown outro).

“Freakshow Maggie” is a rock-solid offering from KTop, music made for people who aren’t too jaded to just enjoy rock music again.

Tags:

Tags: