Kevin Goes 2 College
2006 Demo

I had heard about Kevin Goes 2 College, a female-fronted ska outfit out of San Antonio, TX, from the wealth of shows they’ve been playing in Louisiana, and finally got to listen to what these guys are all about. On their three-track 2006 Demo I found a lot of really awesome things happening and a lot of potential yet to be fully captured on a recording. While nowhere close to a polished final product, I felt as though this was a band worth hearing about. Boasting consistently catchy and clever lyrics with creative music accompaniment, this band is definitely on their way up. Although I have yet to see them live, I have no doubt that I won’t be disappointed and can’t wait until I finally do.

The first track, “Lost In Translation” starts off with a bass lick that’s quickly joined by the rest of the band, including some very brassy horn pops. The song flows really well into a danceable ska groove with the strong female vocals that typifies Kevin Goes 2 College. While the guitar, bass, and drums are all well played individually, the recording doesn’t allow these aspects to become fully amalgamated into a really unified sound. In addition, there are some really cool horn licks that join the background, fading well into a pre-chorus and finally a distorted and full chorus. The band throws in additional horn accents and some nice drum fills throughout the track keeps it unpredictable and interesting. Some of the cymbal sounds are a little alarming and out of place, but again this can probably be attributed to recording quality. In a final half tempo section of the track, two vocal parts and more horn accents help it fade out and transition nicely into the second track, “Every Morning.” Changing feel a little bit with a minor bass line, muted trumpet, and brushes on the drum kit, the intro to this song frames serious and well-planned lyrics by Jen, and fades well into a distorted section with a very memorable horn hook. In general, the drums stay a little low in the mix, eliminating some of the drive that is pushed by strong bass lines and distorted guitar. I love how tight KG2C is, using punches in the rhythm section on several occasions to frame the powerful vocals. While this track is 5:30 long, many different and elaborate sections including horn solos and a final driven section with astoundingly awesome vocals keep it consistently quality. My favorite track by far on this demo is the last, entitled “Catch of the Day.” While only consisting of acoustic guitar and vocal tracks, the recording quality is by far the best, and the combination of upstrokes and accurate and witty vocals makes this track stellar. This is one of those tunes that you hear once and then play 20 times over without getting bored, and picking up more and more of the catchy lyrics every time. I would love to hear this song done live with a full band, but this is definitely a huge exclamation point on the demo.

I am more than ecstatic that I got my hands on Kevin Goes 2 College’s 3-track 2006 Demo, as it shows excellent potential for an up and coming band. While limited by recording quality, the songs are solid and the performance is definitely up to par with the band’s writing. To check out the tunes from this demo, head over to KG2C’s MySpace, and hear what’s up.

Reviewed By:  Todd Springer

Date:  Sat 2 Sep 06

Score:  7.0

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