KLACK - Intifada 2004

The debut single of a new indies band isn't expected to include an outcome worked to perfection. Instead of looking at the finishing touches, it's more rewarding to find the heart of the first tryout. Having something to develop could in the end lead the act to their own, unique style and therefore success. The noisy punk exterior of KLACK's debut single Intifada 2004 may seem too harsh at the first glance, but if you dig deeper, the CD reveals 3 interesting tunes.

The single, which was released in its title year, features the modern themed Intifada's new version as the main track. The fast paced punk rock song is based on the singer's vocals, which leave plenty of freedom for him to try different things, including stylishly stretched parts in the chorus. Another point is the backing vocals that manage to bring a lighter sound to the song. Vocalist u admittedly isn't one of the best vocalists ever, but on this chaotic single his voice sometimes distorts too much, making it sound a bit too annoying. Luckily, this has been fixed and isn't the case on any of the later releases.

The highlight of the single is the raw sounding, yet strongly melodic Seike Wears the Suit. The song offers a quick view on Japan's adult entertainment business and can easily be put on repeat due to its smoothness and sing along catchiness, making it a prime example of the pop rock influences KLACK moved on to later in their career. The track, however, does move almost directly to the main part of the song and the whole single seems to represent the lack of patient conveyance of musical pieces, so depending on the listener it could be a positive or negative point.

Third track Japanese Standard chooses a more serious musical style by presenting oppressively cold riffs and choir-like hollering, though later on the song gets balanced out with a refreshing guitar solo. Japanese Standard is easily the least "in your face" style track of the single and doesn't invite the listener to dance or jump like the other songs, but there are some nice things to be found, like the exciting sound of mixing u's vocals together for a short moment.

At the time of the single's release, the politically spiced Intifada 2004 divided the listeners in a radical way. The phenomenon just gives more of a reason to take a quick listen, since unlike the easily forgotten one-hit-wonders of radio charts, KLACK leaves no-one cold.