April 5th, 2006
Kudu
Key release: Death Of The Party (2006)
Hometown: New York
A charged pop band into clacking rhythms and overdriven electronics, Kudu flirts with diverse styles that are often related but rarely integrated. Touchstones include house, hip-hop, and that amorphous phenomenon known as new wave, but Kudu's interpretations are more lateral than literal: They evoke specific sounds and eras that mean the most when smeared. Think of Kudu as a sort of lo-fi Basement Jaxx, or an electroclash act governed by more than the simple impulse to clown around. The group has grown through a rash of storied live shows, which set soulful singer Sylvia Gordon in front of Deantoni Parks, a frenetic drummer who plays atop programmed beats. The live sound finds good form on Death Of The Party, which lurches and broods without forgetting to fix its eye on the stars.
Sylvia Gordon on a sound that's hard to slot:
"It's just a natural progression that comes from going back to when you were young and reacted instinctually to things that you like, instead of things you think you should like. In fourth grade, I listened a lot to Missing Persons. Babysitters influenced me, and MTV. As a teenager, I went to punk clubs and got into all these obscure random bands. Then music school messed me up, because you're given a lot of music and told 'This is what's good' even though you don't relate to it all."
On the live show:
"Live, we're pretty regimented. We do most of our experimenting at home. But the vocals and drums—those change every time, according to how the crowd is feeling and who's around. We don't like to discount what's hot for other people, so we're just messing around with sounds, and some sounds stimulate parts of the brain."
On finding a niche:
"On tour, we haven't really found the right places to play. We keep getting put in these leftover neo-soul places because people say, 'They've got brown skin, so let's put them in a bourgie soul bar.' We really want to fight that. We're trying to bring it all together without getting boxed in." —Andy Battaglia
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