Posted on: July 2, 2010 Posted by: James McQuiston Comments: 0

I like how all of the band’s album titles have dealt with illegal immigration. This is not the next Manic Hispanic, but rather an interesting band that starts off their “We Came To Take Your Jobs Away” with a track that blends together a They Might Be Giants sound with a more Middle Eastern sound. While Kultur Shock is confident that their song will never be on the radio during “God Is Busy”, the overall sound of the track is catchy enough to bring listeners in by the barrelful. While the song is well less than three and a half minutes, Kultur Shock makes their compositions on the track stick to listeners’ bones. Throwing a little bit of Russian influence to “Tango”, Kultur Shock uses the ancient dance form to make something that is simultaneously catchy in the current period while still being grounded in classic sounds.

There are hints of disco and punk in this track, so that the widest swath of listeners can tune in and hear something that they can dig. Kultur Shock with “Duna” makes the case for their band being the next “Lords of the Dance”. The blend of harder musical influences is not anything that has been heard previously; the only close ties that I can come up with include Buckethead, Authority Zero, and System of a Down. The band is able to milk their eclectic rock gimmick for the entirety of the disc’s forty-two minutes; there is not a sense here that the band is just trying to sound weird to get more in the way of listeners. The music that is present on “We Came To Take Your Jobs Away” may be miles away from what individuals typically listen to on popular radio, but the arrangements are approachable enough even for the individual that was teethed on Brooke Hogan and Ashlee Simpson.

However, do not let this make the band sound uncultivated to you; what Kultur Shock does with this album is introduce listeners to the title condition. There are so many different styles and influences that come to prominence on this disc that individuals will have to listen to the disc numerous times before getting everything that the band has to offer. I haven’t heard the band before putting the disc on the player for the first time, but I know that I would like to hear more from them in the future. Hopefully they will stick together and come up with more of the same.

Top Tracks: Zumbul, Istanbul

Rating: 6.9/10

Kultur Shock – We Came To Take Your Jobs Away / 2006 Koolarrow / 10 Tracks / http://www.kulturshock.com / http://www.koolarrow.com / Reviewed 06 September 2006

[JMcQ]

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