Record Reviews

The Kiss Offs

Rock Bottom (Peek-a-Boo)

The majesty of rock, the mystery of roll. Austin's Kiss Offs always seemed too good to last, too fragile to endure the day-to-day bothers of the rock & roll lifestyle, and too smart to keep blowing up their amps forever. So they broke up, necessitated by singer/organist Katey Jones' move to Chicago. They're still broken up, but now have a new album nonetheless. Go figure. Amazingly, Rock Bottom pretty much picks up where 1999's brilliant Goodbye Private Life left off, with nods to New Order and the Cure interspersed with the garage drone of Jones' Farfisa and several patches of all-out racket. This band always seemed to realize that what they were doing was a lark, something to pass their mid-twenties in the company of friends, fab stagewear, and plenty of beer, more than a long-lasting career. Rock Bottom reinforces that train of thought, as it lacks a bit of the live woodshedding that made Goodbye Private Life so ebullient, but retains the saucy sneer of kids who know their band is the shit. And it's a concept album to boot, about giving your life over to rock & roll and being rewarded with … well, nothing, really, save a "Prolonged Adolescence," some catchy tunes, hangover-induced wisdom, and the ever-present possibility of another wanton Friday night at the Hole in the Wall. God, I miss them.