Artist:  Kiria
   Title: One 
   Label: Koochie Coo Records Ltd  

In 1977 the world was looking towards the UK as Punk took over the airwaves.  Later in the 90's the US unleashed their own band of Punk, more Pop Punk with the likes of The Offspring, Blink 182 and Green Day dominating the genre.  Now in 2010 the UK has its own brand of Pop Punk and leading the way is London based Kiria.

With her debut release ‘One’ and her obvious eye candy looks, the name of Kiria is about to be the in name in the genre.  Joining Kiria on her musical journey are Steve Rooney (drums), Evil Eden (bass), Jessie May (violin) and Tony Morrisson (lead guitar).

The album mixes typical 80’s pop with a modern punky vibe and this is instantly noticeable from the opener ‘Jelly Baby’.  There is definitely a Bow Wow feel to it as Kiria has that same feel about her vocal style.

But this isn’t your usual all out Punk fair, Kiria mixes a more poppy element with ‘Fussy Girl’ before turning things back up with ‘Radio’ and the excellent ‘Make Up’.

With Lily Allen high in the public spotlight it's clear that Kiria has a place in the more international market place, and is due to step out of the underground and into the spot light.

One of the many highlights on the album has to be ‘Alright’, which is more of the same pop punk that has gone before, but this one has a touch more zing to it than the previous songs.

A similar vibe is found on ‘Let Me In’, again a very commercial slice of modern day pop/rock that wouldn’t go a miss in the national charts.  Then it's all change once more with what I’d like to call Jazz Punk, an eclectic mix of styles that works remarkably well.

Probably one of the most commercial tracks on the album has to be ‘Love Song’, which is not what you’d expect to hear on a pop/punk album.  More Enya than the Sex Pistols, with the added strings and piano bringing an air of the classical to proceedings.

Just as quickly we switch things again with touch of reggae infused pop punk with ‘And Another Thing’, before the album finishes on a high with the New York Dolls influenced ‘Live Sex On Stage’, which I believe is also the first single to be taken from the album.  Truth be told this album is a great debut release from a band with a big big future, however I do think the single is perhaps not a true reflection of the rest of the album so have a listen to a few more tracks before making your mind up either way about this album.  I can't help but feel they may be batting in the wrong direction with the punk vibe and may have a more commercial future ahead of them if they head more down the mass pop/rock direction.

Tracklisting:

1. Jelly Baby
2. Fussy Girl
3. Radio 4. Make Up
5. Mirror Of You
6. This Time
7. Alright
8. Let Me In
9. Crazy
10. Love Song
11. And Another Thing
12. Live Sex On Stage

                   

 

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