by Dominic Acito (@mycamgrlromance)
What would Tom Waits sound like if he grew up listening to Fugazi? What if Neil Young spent his formative years listening to Unwound? What would Bob Dylan’s songs sound like if he honed his guitar skills listening to The Jesus Lizard? It’s a compelling line of questions, partially because we will never really know and also because there are songwriters today who follow lineage that can be traced to many paths. Rooted in folk-inspired songwriting and combined with the force of musicians who were raised on heavy music, Kal Marks is a band for both metal heads and the ballad obsessed.
Until now, Kal Marks releases have set the standard for what you get when you combine traditionally grounded songwriting styles with the sensibilities of a hardcore influenced band but this most recent release puts an emphasis on the former. The songs on LITE have already been released on previous albums by Kal Marks with the clarity of full studio production. LITE is a collection of demos made on what the band describes as a “shitty tascam 4 track cassette” performed by front-man Carl Shane, singing, and playing guitar with his songwriting prowess on full display.
LITE, with its sparse instrumentation and haunting vocals and guitar, reveals that Kal Marks songs are living, breathing, pieces that take on new meaning when stripped of their usual style. They are especially poignant during social isolation, where the guitars echo as if in an empty room and with Carl Shane’s meditative lyrics at the forefront. It feels fitting that we have the opportunity to hear songs that he wrote before they took on a new form, animated by the addition of crushing distorted guitars and driving rhythms provided by the full Kal Marks. We get to hear the songs as they originated, just a solitary person and a guitar.
LITE harkens back to Kal Marks’ beginnings as a lo-fi solo project, starkly contrasting with Kal Marks’ most recent release Let the Shit House Burn Down which is arguably their most intense and energetic release to date. LITE feels like the aftermath, the shit house has burned down and Carl Shane soundtracks the calm after the storm with music that is an appropriate tribute to pensive evenings spent alone.
One of the standout tracks, “Heads Been Ringing”, which in its original release is a sludgy and energetic ode to tinnitus takes on an entirely new form on LITE. It reappears as an acoustic and plaintive piece, with lyrics that could be mistaken for a song detailing a turbulent romance; but ultimately describes the sacrifices musicians make to pursue a life in music. While this song was written before COVID, its description of the tenuous, heart- and back-breaking life that musicians lived before COVID, feels especially weighty given the knowledge of the significant damage done to musicians during this time.
For some tracks, like “Out In The Deep,” this is their third iteration on a Kal Marks release. With each release changing some aspect of the arrangement, putting emphasis on different aspects of the piece, it reveals that some songs are so powerful that they are difficult to contain on record and call for alternate takes and arrangements
It’s difficult to talk about LITE without mentioning “Today I Walked Down to the Tree…” a song which gets its name from a Jack Nicolson quote and contains powerful lyrics and a melody that you will carry with you for the rest of the day. Originally released on the album Universal Care, “Today I walked down to the tree…” finds its footing easily with the sparse instrumentation and one feels privileged to hear such a moving piece in such an intimate setting.
There are many standout tracks on this album as it contains songs from throughout Kal Marks’ career and it could be seen almost as a guide to the uninitiated to Kal Marks for those interested in seeing the craft of songwriting at its most vulnerable. It allows you to look at Kal Marks songs through a different lens, which in this case is not only interesting but enjoyable. LITE proves to be an album for anyone who enjoys great songwriting.