More than five years after it was committed to tape,
Kid Kilowatt -- the indie rock supergroup comprised of
Cave-In's
Stephen Brodsky and
Adam McGrath,
Converge's
Kurt Ballou, and
Piebald's Aaron Stuart -- finally unveiled the epic
Guitar Method. A lost album structured from songs that were written between 1996 and 1999 and recorded postbreakup, the disc shifts from roaring, expansive rockers like "Bicycle Song" to crunching anthems like "Ted Nugent" and on to lilting, near-ballads like "Memorial Drive" with inexplicable ease. Soft interludes like "Cadence for a Rainy Day" augment the flow of the disc, but the cohesiveness of the material suggests the lads in
Kid Kilowatt exited this side project as friends. After all, only buddies capable of putting their differences aside could craft the soaring, majestic "Tug of War," where
Brodsky's wide-reaching pipes mesh brilliantly with
KK's ace musicianship. Yeah it's a tired adage, but a suitable one: some things really are worth the wait. ~ John D. Luerssen