Kissing Cousins

Velvet Blue Music

4 tracks

13 Minutes

 

 

 

 

When you hear a band name like “Kissing Cousins”, you might think they are from Arkansas, or a bunch of college guys with a smart alec sense of humor.  Probably the last thing that would cross your mind would be an all girl low-fi indie rock band from the West Coast.  The band, consists of principal songwriter Heather Heywood, formerly of Map and Summer Darling, and her cohorts, KC, Beth, Rhea, and Kara.  The majority of the e.p. was composed entirely by Heywood in her bedroom and then fed out to the other ladies. 

 

Though the disc is very short, clocking in at only 13 minutes, there is plenty of time for the Cousins to assert themselves as a dark, sultry tour de force of the indie scene.  It threw me off a bit to hear lyrics about “finding love on aisle five,” and “the ring on your finger only makes me want you more”.  These phrases combined with the dark tones and cavernous snares make for quite the experience and give you the impression that these girls would be dangerous to break up with.  The song, “Sleep Little Angel” provides some contrast coming in with a nice mellotron/organ sound and some softer flute tones.  The song comes across as a peaceful little lullaby.  It feels like the good-bye kiss at the end of a really good date.  “White Room”, could be the soundtrack to a 70’s cop movie, at least musically speaking.  It’s a bit scary and the vocalist sounds as if she might be obsessed with the object of her affection.

 

At only 4 tracks, we get a taste of who the girls are but don’t get a really good feel for what they could do in the space of a full length.  The band is brand new, only being in existence for a month before recording and releasing their first e.p.  In a recent interview, Heywood promises more quick output from the band and is following through as their next e.p. has just been released on Velvet Blue.  If you’re of the shoegazer/indie/Starflyer/low-fi persuasion then you’re going to want to give this one a try, but make sure to put it on repeat, because it’s over before you know it.