Vancouver-based No Kids evolved out of the ashes of indie-pop group P:ano after one member parted company. The best description of the somewhat varied music to be heard on Come Into My House is that it sounds like a primarily acoustic, chamber instrument band taking a stab at various pop genres, including vaguely R&B songs, upbeat pop tunes, lazy ballads and everything in between.
Things start off unassumingly enough with the sedate "Great Escape," a light ballad that evolves midway to introduce a lovely brass and string arrangement. The proceedings are a bit more upbeat, with both "For Halloween" and "I Love the Weekend" introducing more elaborate arrangements with an emphasis on rousing vocal choruses and rhythm sections that seem to include a little bit of everything. A distinct R&B influence is more obvious on the likes of "The Beaches All Closed" and "Bluster In The Air" which are both airy but solid; these are some of my favorites. The first thing I had heard about No Kids was that they are chamber-music-meets-R&B, but it's only really on these 2 tracks that it comes through. I wouldn't necessarily say that on the whole it's a very accurate description of the band's music.
Some of the band's slightly goofier moments don't work for me. "Four Freshmen Locked Out" seems like a cheeky novelty, and in its position in the very center of the album, it seems to undermine the better tracks of the album a little. If nothing else, though, the trio aren't afraid to show that they have a sense of humor and that they don't take themselves too seriously. It's this shift in mood from a song like this to the more glum "Dancing in the Stacks" that can make Come Into My House a somewhat confounding listening experience, but the fact that they are able to keep listeners on their toes is probably not so bad a thing in my opinion.
In the end, it's not the potential novelty of genre crossover that makes No Kids successful for me, but rather their knack for interesting songs and smart arrangements, incorporating a variety of different chamber instruments, percussion and minimal electronics to craft rich, thoughtful tracks.
mp3s: The Beaches All Closed | For Halloween
more information: Tomlab | Myspace
buy it: Forced Exposure | Boomkat | Amazon | Emusic | iTunes
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