In preparing for the show, in my mind I grouped Farewell,
My Love and Chomp Chomp Attack! together, as the bands whom I already had some
loyalty to, because they followed me on Twitter. Therefore, I grouped Kissing
Candice together with Snow White's Poison Bite, as the bands who were
completely new to me.
With Snow White's Poison Bite, there were reasons to
associate them with The Misfits, from the skull makeup to the participation of
Michale Graves on one track. Without that, I don't know that I would have made
a Misfits connection with Kissing Candice, but one way or another I did, mainly
on the basis of movies.
First of all, every track on their debut, Murder,
seems to have at least one movie sample worked in. They are not all strictly
traditional horror movies. If I have it correct, movies referenced are The
Great Outdoors, Twilight Zone: The Movie, Gummo, Scream 2,
and Hellraiser.
Actually, based on the Kissing Candice Facebook page, one
of Joey Simpson's specific goals when forming Kissing Candice was to do
something more theatrical. Formerly of Dr. Acula, where Simpson played
keyboards, his skill at sampling can definitely be heard in the new creations.
While Joey does lead vocals here, one of the band's
strengths is using the voices of the other members, so there may be harmonies
offsetting Simpson's growl or shout. There is more of an industrial sound in
many of the songs, possibly achieved by sampling, but at the same time there is
often a basic rat-a-tat-tat attack to it, reminiscent of Metallica. While it is
often driving and powerful, it is also thoughtful and perhaps contemplative.
There was also a fair amount of stagecraft to their
presentation. They were the only band to use smoke, which especially makes
sense with "Rampage", and while all the bands had some form of makeup
going on, most of it was in the more gothic or supernatural vein. Kissing
Candice members looked like they had been mauled by a bear, or perhaps
something less specific but still catastrophic (possibly involving bath salts).
I have to say, they were also the band that looked the
most grown up. I had mentioned in their review how young Farewell, My Love
seems, and that is even more true with Chomp Chomp Attack! (With Snow White's
Poison Bite, the makeup leaves me with no guesses on age.) I don't think the
members of Kissing Candice are necessarily that much older, but they do seem
more seasoned, and maybe more buff. And everyone was putting on really good
shows, but I would guess that Kissing Candice has more experience.
I did talk to Joey and one of the guitarists briefly at
the merch table, and everyone was affable. They did not have any CDs available,
but they had the best shirts. If I ever wore band t-shirts, I would have gotten
one of theirs (probably the Marshmallow Man one). Only a small selection of
that is available online, but there are some at http://merchnow.com/catalogs/kissing-candice.
The negative thing I will say is that I did not like the
existing video for "Rampage". The production is decent, but there is
a sort of nasty vibe to it that seems like it should make sense, but I do not
get that vibe listening to the band or watching them perform, so it strikes me
wrong. It may be personal taste. At any rate, I only get that from the video.
Murder is supposed
to be available via iTunes but I could not find it. It is definitely on Amazon.
A teaser on the Youtube page looks like there might be new material coming out.
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