Multibenefit is a throwback to the sort of attitudes and concerns that irrigated the alternative scene in the early to mid ‘80’s
Multibenefit is a throwback to the sort of attitudes and concerns that irrigated the alternative scene in the early to mid ‘80’s
http://www.konkurrent.nl http://www.myspace.com/kanipchenfit
Passionate, committed, with a great clear sound (no surprise since the Mighty Jan Scheck from Hospital Bombers produced it); Multibenefit deserves a repeated listen. To be honest, Multibenefit needs more than a cursory flick through (the fate accorded so many records these days) because a lot of the record’s charms & nuances aren’t apparent on a first listen.
This is a serious record, even if it is at times laced with a liberal splash of irony: Multibenefit is a throwback to the sort of attitudes and concerns that irrigated the alternative scene in the early to mid ‘80’s. Think Billy Bragg, Maximum Joy, or Jerry Dammers. It’s not the sort of record that gets aired, or even made, nowadays. I suppose this is no surprise, because the band seemingly isn’t really a band in the classic sense of people wanting to make music as part of a scene. Kanipchen-Fit is collaboration between poet/artist singer and a guitarist working outside of the constraints of his band.
There are a number of mentions of prison, sometimes in slightly droll fashion Radio Torture deals with playing Coldplay to Guantanamo Bay inmates, opener Prison Channel deals with death row prisoners and being forced to watch hard core porn. Eh? There are some rum things going on in the contents of this record, but it’s refreshing to hear an intelligentand witty take on problems and concerns facing us all on some level; alcoholics in Vodka Rescue Team, feminism in Kitchen or post modernism (OK I’m guessing here) on Not So Born Again. Some angry guitars get a chance to let rip, too, as seen on People Need Love, Old Lies, and Post Office.
Give it some time.