Spring Break
Kêf's has The Cause for a 'surreal' break out of Phila. area
Joby Martin
Issue date: 6/3/05 Section: Entertainment
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Kêf's first studio release, The Cause, captures a moment in time. It was cranked out in only a few desperate hours, only a few anxious days prior to Spring Jam- the band's biggest achievement in their short career.
"It's been surreal," lead singer Chris Jankoski says of Kêf's victory at Battle of the Bands, which won them the chance to open up for Unwritten Law (is it possible to steal a show in thirteen minutes?).
"We needed something good for Spring Jam," explains Alex Styer, the band's trumpet player, and the source of most of the band's jazz influence. "So we just went into the studio and played live."
'Something good' is a modest understatement. The Cause is almost flawless, considering that each member of this group is under 22, and has been together for only a matter of months.
The Cause spreads that sweet sound that pours out of 3437 Lancaster Ave., a lively concoction of too many styles of music to list. Intricate yet approachable, there is something for everyone on this album. Therein lies the appeal of this young and promising group of talented musicians.
"Music today is so packaged and generic and fake," laments Jankoski, commonly known as Towers. "I think music is human, it shouldn't be assembled by anything corporate. People nowadays are given songs to play, told how to play them, and then over produced. Its not human- it's not music."
Kêf plays for that human aspect of music. Nothing about this album is insincere. The intention is clear: make good music for anybody who wants to listen. But this is music that shouldn't be listened to, it should be experienced.
Miles Davis said that there are only two kinds of music: the good kind, and the other kind. Kêf could not be farther away from that other kind. They have a unique talent to convey meaning without words. They can tell stories through instrumentation, and the lyrics come only as one element in a sound that has so many.
"We not trying to shape a sound," Styer says. "Nothing is off limits. We have a shared vision. We five completely different musicians that somehow ended up coming together."
"It's been surreal," lead singer Chris Jankoski says of Kêf's victory at Battle of the Bands, which won them the chance to open up for Unwritten Law (is it possible to steal a show in thirteen minutes?).
"We needed something good for Spring Jam," explains Alex Styer, the band's trumpet player, and the source of most of the band's jazz influence. "So we just went into the studio and played live."
'Something good' is a modest understatement. The Cause is almost flawless, considering that each member of this group is under 22, and has been together for only a matter of months.
The Cause spreads that sweet sound that pours out of 3437 Lancaster Ave., a lively concoction of too many styles of music to list. Intricate yet approachable, there is something for everyone on this album. Therein lies the appeal of this young and promising group of talented musicians.
"Music today is so packaged and generic and fake," laments Jankoski, commonly known as Towers. "I think music is human, it shouldn't be assembled by anything corporate. People nowadays are given songs to play, told how to play them, and then over produced. Its not human- it's not music."
Kêf plays for that human aspect of music. Nothing about this album is insincere. The intention is clear: make good music for anybody who wants to listen. But this is music that shouldn't be listened to, it should be experienced.
Miles Davis said that there are only two kinds of music: the good kind, and the other kind. Kêf could not be farther away from that other kind. They have a unique talent to convey meaning without words. They can tell stories through instrumentation, and the lyrics come only as one element in a sound that has so many.
"We not trying to shape a sound," Styer says. "Nothing is off limits. We have a shared vision. We five completely different musicians that somehow ended up coming together."
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crj25
crj25
posted 7/17/05 @ 4:12 AM EST
Kef is the best band in Philadelphia!!!! ever
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