by Nathan Cardiff

Kansas City quartet Kangaroo Knife Fight are ready for the stadiums. Ready for the arenas. Bring them your festival stages, this band will fill the space with their anthem rock.

The crystal clear rock has a classic quality to it; the strong vocals have just the right amount of gruffness to them. The band bleeds genuine emotion in their pop sound, a sure indicator of a Midwest band (with vocals by way of Australia). This self-titled EP gives us four excellent tracks, ranging from the rollicking “Hold On,” heartbreaker ballad “Lose My Head,” the powerful pop punch of “It’s You,” and bluesy “Shattered Head.”

The lost love of “Lose My Head” hits hard with lyrics “I drink too much/I fall back down” and the chorus exclaiming “With you I can never win.” I love the stellar guitars on “Hold On” and the fight the song puts up in the face of overwhelming odds (“We punch back, nothing moves an inch at all”). They know “nobody wants to lose,” so all you can do is keep your head up. The “whoa-oh-oh” opener on “It’s You” makes it a stellar single with the glimmering guitars and thundering drums. The lead vocals have a bouncing support underneath them that will have you bobbing your head along the whole time. And check out the killer guitar in “Shattered Head.” Once again, it may seem like “the world is crashing in” on you, this band gives you hope. Kangaroo Knife Fight keeps fighting the good fight, no matter what.

Favorite Tracks: “Hold On” & “Shattered Head”

by Nathan Cardiff

Editor’s note: You can catch Kangaroo Knife Fight at their EP release show Saturday, December 6th, at The Brick.