Album Review: The Kissaway Trail - Self-Titled

The Kissaway Trail are a new band from Odense, Denmark, with an awful name, though their music is much better than their English. Their self-titled debut is essentially an indie-rock affair over eleven tracks, filled with catchy melodies, and crosses the spectrum of instrumentation, with large string arrangements on some tracks, and banjos and mandolins on others. The album standout is undoubtedly the single “Smother + Evil = Hurt”, which, with its lush orchestral instrumentation backing a rock sound, brings to mind that other epic-sounding band The Polyphonic Spree. Except while the latter has thirty members, and The Kissaway Trail have five. The fact that such a young band can have such a big sound is a testament to their ability. With that said, the album does, at times, dip into a repetitive state, but all in all it’s a strong debut effort. If you loved the latest album from The Arcade Fire, then you should find something to love in The Kissaway Trail.

The Kissaway Trail is out now through Etch 'n' Sketch / Inertia