What does This Is The Kit sound like?

Free-flowing folk rock that jams and soothes in equal measure.

The review of ‘Live at The Minack Theatre’ by This Is The Kit

One of my personal goals is to see an artist I love perform at The Minack Theatre. It is an open-air venue built into a cliffside near Land’s End, Cornwall, in the UK. To me, it looks like a miniature Greek amphitheatre, and I bet the atmosphere on the Cornish cliffs is stunning. Clearly, it appealed to Kate Stables, as this is where her band This Is The Kit recorded their second live album. Focusing on more recent albums, this 11-track release is a beautiful reminder of just how accomplished the troupe are at live performance.

The album revels in the noodling twangs of guitar and banjo, underscored with stumbling beats. The live performance is captured without much, if any, reverb. It has a dry, clean intimacy to it that lets the brushed and muffled percussion rumble away, whilst the brass arrangements and occasional recorders and wind instruments have space in the mix to breathe and shine. That means that verses can often have a quietly confident underbelly that doesn’t need to use big amps or power chords to chug through. Instead, the rhythm of faster, nimble bassy shuffles propels the songs forward. An example of this is ‘Inside Outside’, which lets the collage of instruments build up into its unfurling finale. Softly does it.

Soft doesn’t mean dull. There are plenty of bangers here. ‘Stuck In A Room’ scatterbrains at speed with all kinds of instruments dipping in and out. The bluesy, curiously French-tinged ‘Scabby Head and Legs’ skips and tumbles with tension and beauty. ‘Moonshine Freeze’ breaks out into a euphoric jam with band members backing up Kate’s vocals. The brass works a treat here. ‘Doomed or More Doomed’ gets a laugh from the crowd as Kate explains, “that’s the choice, these days”, before creating a dizzying swirl of doomspiralling folk-rock. Ending on ‘Hotter Colder’ lets the band jam out, turning all the instruments up to their rockiest. Part of the fun of this recording is working out where an electric guitar ends and a brass trio of sax, trumpet, and tuba begins. With everything leading up to the finale feeling so carefully interwoven, a good old freakout at the end lets you all shake it out.

Throughout it all, Kate Stables’ voice and performance are silky smooth and pitch-perfect, and she has an endearing presence on stage. ‘Live at The Minack Theatre’ isn’t a radically different rearrangement of existing tracks, but the live arrangements give the tracks a more rootsy feel. Gone are the great production tweaks, and the craftsmanship of each instrument is clearer to define. I’d recommend this album over 2016’s EP ‘Live in New York’, as this is a full album and the crowd is far more respectful. This Is The Kit continues to showcase folk rock at its finest.

Recommended track: Hotter Colder

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