Kneebody: By Fire
Edition Records

The challenge any artist faces in tackling a covers set, Kneebody included, involves dealing with the inevitable comparisons to the originals that arise; complicating that further, the original material is generally exceptionally strong, which sets the bar even higher for the remodel. An occasional attempt meets the challenge, Bowie's Pinups and Bryan Ferry's These Foolish Things two familiar examples, but it's more common for a cover release to suffer when its songs are compared to the originals.

That said, Kneebody's digital-only EP holds up pretty well; to be followed by a full-length of original material later this year, By Fire's a collaborative affair that sees the band joined by guests (vocalists, mostly) on songs by Hiatus Kaiyote, Wye Oak, Soundgarden, The Band, and John Legend. The self-produced EP also introduces a lineup change, with bassist Kaveh Rastegar stepping aside and Kneebody now a quartet featuring tenor saxist Ben Wendel, trumpeter Shane Endsley, keyboardist Adam Benjamin, and Nate Wood taking on the dual role of drummer and electric bassist (track down the video of the title cut to witness an awesome Wood in action). All five pieces are ultra-detailed productions to which the band obviously dedicated a great deal of thought and effort, the arrangements multi-tiered, the intensity level high, and the attention to detail impressive. To say Kneebody packs more into the EP than one hears in a typical full-length proves to be no exaggeration.

With a muscular Wood powering the attack, the band digs into “By Fire” (by Melbourne future soul quartet Hiatus Kaiyote) with furious intent, Benjamin's electric piano and the horns nicely sweetening the stutter-funk groove and complementing Michael Mayo's smooth vocal flow. Just shy of six minutes, the song's a dizzying ride filled with sudden detours, rapid unison runs, and tempo shifts, all of which Mayo navigates commendably. Vocalist DAWN and the group give “Black Hole Sun” their best college try, yet however credible the epic, soul-inflected makeover is, it can't help but pale in comparison to Soundgarden's definitive original. With drummer/singer Josh Dion serving up a strong vocal to rival Richard Manuel's, “King Harvest” fares better, Kneebody's raw funk swing a credible match to The Band's original. Arriving as it does in the wake of four high-energy performances, the sultry lyricism of John Legend's “Hold On Longer” goes down beautifully, especially with pianist Gerald Clayton along for the ride and elevating the tune with a jazzy solo.

June 2019