aaamusic | On 28, Jan 2011

Harder, grittier and more malevolent than anything previously heard from Kill It Kid, new single ‘Pray On Me’ marries a punishing blues riff a la Black Keys to Chris Turpin’s dust bowl howl and Stephanie Ward’s softer but no less strident vocal. The strange, electrifying scream that opens the song (and is reprised to spectacular effect at 2.03) is the righteous – not to say blood-curdling – voice of a certain Reverend J.H. Terrell in full evangelical flight, culled from a 1920’s Alan Lomax field recording of a tent revival.

Mistakenly lumped in with the crop of neo-folk acts on the release of their eponymous 2009 debut, Kill It Kid have been toughened up by relentless touring ever since, and, freshly inspired by old recordings like ‘I Had a Dream’ by Pops Staples, the band have fulfilled their identity as a blues band at heart. ‘Pray On Me’ is a positive affirmation of the path the band are now following, and indeed of the album that will follow in the autumn. “Throughout this whole album process we have endeavoured to really retain a sense of honesty and Britishness – of the blues boom of the 1960s – in what we do,” says Chris.

Following the departure of violin player Richard Jones, “We’ve naturally moved away from our old sound, no violin, no acoustic guitars”, explained Chris to Clashmusic.com at the end of last year. “Having spent a month recording our debut in the States we wanted our second album to have an immediacy… the whole thing was put to tape in London in just over a week.”

The band kicked off 2011at MIDEM on the 24th January and play HMV Next Big Thing on February 7th @ Camden Barfly. A major UK tour follows:

February:
14th – London Hoxton Bar & Kitchen
16th – Sheffield Raynor Lounge (Live Wire at Sheffield Uni)
17th – Edinburgh Electric Circus
18th – Aberdeen Drummonds
19th – Dundee Hulsters
20th – Glasgow King Tuts
21st – Nottingham Bodega
22nd – York Fibbers
23rd – Manchester Deaf Institute
25th – Leicester Lock 42
26th – Coventry Kasbah – Club Night
27th – Peterborough Met Lounge
28th – Oxford Jericho Tavern

March:
1st – Bristol Fleece
3rd – Exeter Cavern
4th – Cardiff Clwb Ifor Bach
5th – Brighton Freebutt
6th – Southampton Joiners
9th – Bath, Komedia

Kill It Kid is: Adam Timmins (bass guitar/guitars), Stephanie Ward (lead vocals/piano), Marc Jones (drums/percussion) and Chris Turpin (lead vocals/guitars/harmonica). www.myspace.com/killitkid