Kimono Drag Queen - cranks up the psychedelic volume on "Acid Reign"

Kimono Drag Queens. I have to say, don't like the name. I don't know why but putting those words / concepts together (?), well... that is just a hell of a lot going on in my brain. Does the name try to hard, maybe... (that's just me) but in the end a band name is just a fucking band name. Actually not as important as one might think because the name becomes what the music is, what the music makes you feel.

So KDQ is a seven (yes, seven) piece alternative rock outfit from Sydney, Australia and the track Acid Reign is a gem. It cooks on a guitar / bass hook with streams of psychedelic lines crisscrossing over the sounds. When it slows down it feels extra trippy and you can feel a think coat of hallucinogens hanging in the air like a Doors song but it only lingers in this multi-colored haze for awhile until that beautiful metal / meets deep blues rock riff cranks up again. The song trades off between trippy and cranking. The guitar sounds are deliciously heavy and dense. There is a sense of post punk metal mania that is just incredibly fun and engaging. The sounds pay homage to some great gods of rock in the same way that (let's say) a Ty Segall mines some of the best of those riffs but still puts his own spin on the milieu (like on Emotional Mugger). I feel that happening here to and I absolutely love it. The only negative thing I could say about Acid Reign is that it feels too short. I like to bask in this kind of sound a lot longer. What the hell... that is what the repeat button is for.

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Robb Donker