The first time I heard Matt & Kim, I was threading my way through the sticky crowd thronging one of the stages at an outdoor concert. In addition to being at least as disgustingly damp as everyone else, I was also vaguely grumpy about something not important enough to warrant even a vague recollection.
The Brooklyn-based duo’s onstage enthusiasm is so infectious that it hardly seems fair to review it in CD form—without the smiles and giggles. In some ways watching them is like listening to NPR’s Car Talk—they have so much fun that it’s hard not to enjoy the show. Although a scrappy keyboard (plus occasional guitar) and drum two-piece with a stripped-down pop sensibility might not seem like your cup of tea. That being said, with or without 100watt grins there’s plenty to like about Matt & Kim and Grand, the new album due out Jan. 20. (The band is playing an album release show Jan. 22 at the Music Hall of Williamsburg).The band’s self-titled first album, released in 2006, had the stripped down, poppy sound of people having fun with a keyboard and a drum set. Pretty much what you hear is what you get. Grand, which the couple (both on- and off-stage) recorded at Johnson’s childhood home in Vermont, layers on more sound than the previous release. “Cutdown,” the second song on the album, features of-the-moment vocal stylings in that Johnson’s voice has a plaintive edge that echoes indie faves such as Bon Iver, but the song resists delving into any serious angst with help from a markedly upbeat keyboard riff. Later in the album, “Don’t Slow Down” makes good on its name by opening with a staccato keyboard riff backed by Schifino’s quick and steady beat.The keyboards on this track are anthemic in a way that recalls a frenzied crowd at a professional sporting event.
The album can be divided into two categories: tracks that make you involuntarily shake your ass and songs that make you want to sing along at the top of your lungs.
Listen to Grand while folding laundry or doing dishes, like I did while working on this review, and you’ll likely find yourself doing a little of each.
I had no intention of stopping to see the band; I was actually walking away from them with my back to the stage when I realized that I was kind of rocking out without even meaning to. I looked up on stage and there they were: A tall skinny dude with darkrimmed glasses standing in front of a keyboard and a trim and tanned girl with a dark pixie cut sitting behind a drum set, both with huge grins spread across their faces. Matt & Kim, or more precisely Matt Johnson and Kim Schifino.
The Brooklyn-based duo’s onstage enthusiasm is so infectious that it hardly seems fair to review it in CD form—without the smiles and giggles. In some ways watching them is like listening to NPR’s Car Talk—they have so much fun that it’s hard not to enjoy the show. Although a scrappy keyboard (plus occasional guitar) and drum two-piece with a stripped-down pop sensibility might not seem like your cup of tea. That being said, with or without 100watt grins there’s plenty to like about Matt & Kim and Grand, the new album due out Jan. 20. (The band is playing an album release show Jan. 22 at the Music Hall of Williamsburg).The band’s self-titled first album, released in 2006, had the stripped down, poppy sound of people having fun with a keyboard and a drum set. Pretty much what you hear is what you get. Grand, which the couple (both on- and off-stage) recorded at Johnson’s childhood home in Vermont, layers on more sound than the previous release. “Cutdown,” the second song on the album, features of-the-moment vocal stylings in that Johnson’s voice has a plaintive edge that echoes indie faves such as Bon Iver, but the song resists delving into any serious angst with help from a markedly upbeat keyboard riff. Later in the album, “Don’t Slow Down” makes good on its name by opening with a staccato keyboard riff backed by Schifino’s quick and steady beat.The keyboards on this track are anthemic in a way that recalls a frenzied crowd at a professional sporting event.
The album can be divided into two categories: tracks that make you involuntarily shake your ass and songs that make you want to sing along at the top of your lungs.
Listen to Grand while folding laundry or doing dishes, like I did while working on this review, and you’ll likely find yourself doing a little of each.
