In the store
When you import Canʼt Kidsʼ Ennui Go into your computerʼs media player, it files the record, and the band, under the broadest, vaguest possible descriptor: indie rock. Sure, itʼs technically right, their music by turns taut and elliptical, and the lyrics sometimes cryptic and introspective. But as inclusive as the genre tag seems, its breadth is ironically limiting, painting in strokes too thin to capture Canʼt Kidsʼ variegated sonic touchstones. “Indie rock” belies the stately cello playing of Amy Cuthbertson, which lends to the band a touch of chamber-quartet sophistication. It doesnʼt take into account the aggressive low-end supplied by Henry Thomas, which is more attuned to hardcore and noise rock. It doesnʼt speak to the sardonically effervescent energy of drummer and singer Jessica Oliver, derived from punk and riot grrl. It doesnʼt capture the groupʼs theatrical jolts, like on the horn- and banjo-inflected “Bornin,” or the emphasis on Oliver and guitarist-vocalist Adam Cullumʼs intricate counterpoint harmonies, like on the mostly a cappella “Waterfall.” And it doesnʼt attest to the groupʼs biggest strength — its witty, poetic lyricism, which surpasses indie rockʼs traditional navel-gazing and trite Bukowskian self-loathing. Sure, Adam Cullum opens the record by invoking mercy on the delicate “O Mama,” and he and Oliver spit harmonized self-damnation on “You Donʼt Plan”: “If you were gonna do it / You woulda just gone and done it / You donʼt plan.” But those barbs and salves resonate with earnest emotion, and theyʼre buoyed by bouts of fervent humor — the sarcastic “More Soda!,” the smirking-nod sociopathic affirmations of “The Twist.” All of the songs on Ennui Go are filled with tiny word puzzles, thick with puns and smart, smarmy wordplay. Even the album title, from “Alison Wonder,” is itself a tidy linguistic joke: “On we go, down the homophonic rabbit hole / Ennui, go, down the homophonic rabbit whole.” What Canʼt Kids is, then, is a band greater than the sum of its parts. Canʼt Kids twist and turns its various influences and disparate emotional mile markers into a world unique unto itself. Most indie rock bands donʼt do that, canʼt do that. Canʼt Kids can. And on Ennui Go, they do.
“Canʼt Kids tap into jittery tempos, brash guitars and tricky wordplay, theyʼre also a lot of fun, buoyed by guy-girl harmonies and gorgeous cello lines.” –Shuffle Magazine
“A labyrinth of mutating rhythms and harmonized vocals that wonderfully boil into screeches, howls and wails” –The State
Tracks
- O Mama
- The Calm
- More Soda!
- You Don't Plan
- Alison Wonder
- The Twist
- Waterfall
- Bornin
- Oh Adam
