Karma To Burn
Relentless Garage, London
26 April 2010

First up this evening are the Sons of Alpha Centari, although they’ve been around in one form or another for several years they’ve managed to maintain a pretty low profile. Producing a very heavy, slow grinding sound, perfect for a KTB opener, the songs are lifted by atmospheric keyboard lines and echoy, single string guitar solos which should sound naff but actually add to the layers in the mix in a pretty cool way. Some of the songs are a bit samey and the lack of vocals means the songs have to work just that little bit harder – SOAC don’t really pull this off but it’s not a bad effort.

Next on stage are Year Long Disaster. Featuring Richie Mullins (from KTB) on bass, his dirty, uncompromising sound driving the songs forward, augmented by Daniel Davies’ guitar and vocals. The songs are a little too predictable and perhaps too rooted in standard rock for my taste but, nevertheless, YLD deliver a very proficient set which is well received by an appreciative crowd.

And so to Karma to Burn. A powerful, bludgeoning sound, heavy as it is raw and with songs (just about) interesting enough to maintain your interest without vocals. KTB are not sophisticated, the songs are not especially clever, they are well constructed in a very workmanlike fashion but that’s it. However, this very straightforward approach is one of the very reasons why KTB works so well, there is an honesty that many other bands lack – this really is “what you see, is what you get” and in a world where there’s so much fakery on display this is to be warmly welcomed. And a sound that can kill at 25 metres, you can’t complain.

Review by Graham Hilling