One Chord Wonder, 25 December 2020
KOMET matches up buzzing pop and raw sounds to deliver the goods.
KOMET caught me off guard. They’re an Italian band, and anyone who might happen to read my write-ups might notice I have a thing for Ramones-derived buzzsaw pop Italian-style, going all-in for bands like The Manges, The Livermores, and Proton Packs. So I was expecting sort of the same from Komet. What I ended up hearing was a bit different.
KOMET is the self-titled debut from the band, featuring former members of The Ponches and Antares. Right from the go, the 1-2-3-4’s and the 1-4-5 three-chord punk rock is traded in for something a little different. The songs all buzz and pop and move along quickly (all 12 songs go by in just over 17 minutes, and none hit the 2 minute mark), but none of them really hit the Ramones button. Instead, I hear a lot of angular and hooky punk rock, more akin to some stuff by Alkaline Trio or maybe even Sludgeworth. Want evidence? Check out the opener “Grump”. The song plays with aggressive verses and more melodic chorus bits while the lead vocals and the melodies that are crooned sound a bunch like those of Matt Skiba. “Electric Gurl” pairs another aggressive verse with some real pop hooks digging into the exhilarating and repeated chorus refrain. One of their lead-in singles, “Pain Eternal”, goes hard through the verses and once again soars into gorgeous harmonies, this time evoking a little Samiam in the process (maybe, it’s been a while, but that’s immediately where my head goes). The grungy “In Gloom” has one of the coolest bass lines on the record and a really nice guitar lead to go along with. I also really like the melancholy melody of the chiming “Time To Kill”. Other highlights include “Raise A Smile”, where the vocals hit me a little more like Billie Joe Armstrong, and the hook-laden “People Go Places”, with it’s cool line-ending guitar accents and a really spot-on key change. But I think my favorite on the record is “Indian Souvenir”. Something about the guitar melody hits just right and it ends up feeling like a really good song from that 90’s moment where alternative poppiness and punk rock kind of merged and gave out a handful of great catchy singles.
A special note goes to the production. The record comes off cohesive and clean, but there’s a sort of raucous chaotic feel to the proceedings. KOMET isn’t abrasive nor hard to listen to. But it’s mixed and produced like a punk record should be, not so polished and clean as to lose it’s authenticity. Really, it kind of sounds like it was recorded live. The cymbals cut and lacerate, the bass bubbles and pops and roils, the guitars sound alternatingly like buzzsaws and gorgeous chimes, and the vocals are distinctive and audible. I like it when records sound like this.
KOMET’s KOMET is a cool record. It wasn’t what I was expecting, but it checked off a lot of boxes for me. And as I listened to it a few more times, the hooks grew more and more pronounced and sunk in effectively, leaving a good impression along the way.
Favorite song: “Indian Souvenir”
Favorite moment: the exhilarating “Electric Gurl” chorus
Favorite whatever else: the melancholy melody of “Time To Kill” hits so right
ryan is a reviewer and news editor for TGEFM. He’s very secretive, he might be an alien.
