Kilowatthours - The Bright Side

Out of Louisville, KY originally, The Bright Side was Kilowatthours' second album. The band has since changed their name or at least evolved to Up The Empire. I believe what is left of the band is now in New York. In any case, this album was released by Temporary Residence in 2002, and at the time were a five piece. The sound is within the indie-pop genre with leanings toward heavy reliance on guitar hooks and in general is guitar driven. There's elements of shoegaze without the distortion and a touch more emotion in the vocals, but a numbing or transcendental feel to it all. The tempo is mid-paced predominantly, with a quietness at times but also some charging full-sounding parts as well. There is certainly musicianship in the writing and the recording is strong. The album is relatively concise, only nine songs and under 36 minutes long. This brevity works well in that there is little excess, little to become board with.


Kilowatthours - "Almost Airtight"

A repeating couple of guitar chords starts this one off, followed by quite vocals somewhere in the middle of the mix. The chorus section explodes out with keyboards/synth really accenting and heightening the moment. These two sections repeat themselves through the next portion of the song, right up to a keyboard (I think) solo, and then shifting the guitar riff and followed by a short drum interlude, and then combination of crashing percussion, raising keyboards, and driving guitar. A false ending is presented with subtle guitars then carrying out the rest of the song.


Kilowatthours - "Dancers and Acrobats"

Keyboards exclusively in the beginning, until a voice is heard uttering the title of the song that signals the perfectly recorded percussion to come in. The cymbals are crashing and cluttered, creating a reverberated effect. The remainder of the song is an assortment of percussion parts over the keyboards and finally a return to the "keyboards only" to wrap up the song.

Temporary Residence still has the cd of this album available at their website along with three other Kilowatthours releases, so be sure to check out the label website for more of the band. As mentioned above, Kilowatthours has morphed into Up The Empire and is still actively creating and playing music under the new moniker.