Spotlight on...Kicaberry with Sam Lee (From Swindon Advertiser)

Spotlight on...Kicaberry with Sam Lee

9:14am Thursday 18th March 2010 in

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There’s something about girl-boy duos that people seem to really get.

The White Stripes, Blood Red Shoes, The Ting Tings . . . and now Kicaberry.

Formed just over a year ago when drummer Carra Bacon met guitarist and vocalist Josh Kumra at one of his solo gigs, the Swindon duo have been building up a fan base the old-fashioned way – by playing live just about as often as they can.

With influences such as Ray LaMontagne and Paul Weller, their songs have a sort of natural timelessness about them, which makes a refreshing change to the over-produced, under-impassioned dross that has filled the charts for well, for as long as I can remember, actually.

They semi-jokingly brand themselves as “Roulcousturfolk” (a fusion of soul, surf, acoustic, roots and anti-folk, apparently) and they rule out any lazy journalism on my part by being pretty tricky to pigeonhole. Great . . .

But whatever genre you put them in, their songs speak for themselves. The City is a carefree jingle, opening with a fingerpicked riff that wouldn’t sound out of place as the soundtrack to a Vodafone advert (not a bad thing in my books), before building into a mellow and optimistic chorus, with the hopeful refrain “When the stars light up the way, could this be my lucky day?” After such infectious joviality Need brings the mood down perfectly with its atmospheric first verse, before raising it right back up again with an understated yet uplifting chorus. Bound By Chains is another surefire folk anthem-to-be that sees Josh Kumra’s soulful voice at its gravelly best. Golden River and Signs are less memorable, lacking some of the imagination and originality of the previous three tracks, but they’re certainly not bad.

Somehow Kicaberry have remained more or less undiscovered up to now, but it can only be a matter of time before they really start to get the recognition they deserve. Their grueling live schedule is set to continue throughout March and April, including a gig at The Phoenix Bar, Wootton Bassett on March 26, so you’ve got plenty of chances to catch them live. Go to their MySpace for more details.

www.myspace.com/kicaberry