Residual Kid

Residual Kid

Residual Kid isn't just playing around. The teen trio, anchored by former Redboys Ben and Max Redman (14 and 12, respectively), with 14-year-old Deven Ivy on guitar, unloads a direct crunch and punch assault on their sophomore EP. Unlike last year's Box, Faces demonstrates little deference to the nuance and texture that the group attempted as a quartet with Grace London as the female lead, instead falling back on the boys' heavy and raw sound. It's announced in the snarl of the opening track, the dominant bassline pounding into the scathing wash of Ivy's riffs. A Pixies' heaviness propels the Nineties-inspired rock sound, roaring melodic on "Friend" and rolling into a churned oblivion on "Purple Shoes" and punk scrawl on "Lab Rat." While the songs stretch vocally, lyrically, they can't match the trio's musical power. The Kid needs a voice to match its potential.