Posted on: August 11, 2007 Posted by: James McQuiston Comments: 0

Kiff – You Can’t Keep It Down / 2006 PeaceLabs / 11 Tracks / http://www.kiff.com /

Aside from knowing that Kiff (spelled differently, I think) was the name of Zapf Brannigan’s second in command on Futurama, I had no idea what “You Can’t Keep It Down” was ultimately going to sound like. The disc’s cover, which features Chris, the logo, and the album logo, does not give much more of a clue. The opening track here is “Now” and it does not sound like I expected. Chris is clad in a sleeveless vest and shirt, and I guess what I was expecting was something that was much more of a singer-songwriter type of thing. What ultimately issues forth on “Now” is a set of vocals that will remind individuals of those of Fall Out Boy and a piano that could be present on a Tori Amos track.

The track is a great start to the disc, as it is short (clocking in well below three minutes) and could be present on any pop station’s rotation. The style that is present during the track’s follow-up “Coming Home” is similar to that of “Now”, but it feels that a Beatles influence is a little more present in “Coming Home” than it was during “Now”. Again, it feels as if Kiff knows exactly what ey needs to do to really make it big in the next few years. The smoothed-out vocals and catchy guitar/drum dynamic of “Coming Home” leaves little room for any failure to be present, so all that is essentially needed “Lies” is the third track on the disc and it is much more subtle and quiet than either of the first two tracks.

This track may not be one that could rocket up the pop charts without retooling, but it seems like it would be good fare for the Christian or adult contemporary charts. Instead of just having a few solid tracks and a bunch of chaff, it seems like Kiff is able to make a full, impressive album throughout. “Die 4 The Cause” is a track that shifts things around to make Kiff hve a much more Enrique-type of sound. This could be due to the more Latin flavor of the track, largely created by the bass during the track, but this continual reinvention of the wheel is one of the major reasons why individuals will love “You Can’t Keep It Down”. Keep checking out Kiff; it should only be a matter of time before ey moves on to bigger and better things.

Top Tracks: Die 4 The Cause, Your Body

Rating: 6.0/10

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