Single Review: Kidsmoke - 'Sister Sadness'

North Wales as a general rule is kinda shit. I mean, I live in Chester so I have to say that. But I’ve been to Wrexham and Mold and seriously, they are not the kind of towns that beautiful and melodic indie pop should come out of. 

But true to the old cliché of bands wanting to get out of their hometowns, the North Wales music scene is absolutely thriving at the minute. Full of absolutely buzzing guitar pop bands, it’s certainly wiping the floor with those middle class English bastards twenty miles down the road. Kidsmoke find themselves in good company with the fantastic Peaness, Cull, Baby Brave and Chupa Cabra kicking around at the minute but they offer something new and wonderful to the table.

The Bill Ryder-Jones-isms of the verses lure you into a wonderland full of jangly guitars and wistful vocals. This song covers you fully like a drug and instead of getting stuck in your head (it does do that by the way, it takes approximately four listens but that’s not the immediate point of the song), it makes you feel warm, safe and just that little bit of sadness that it’s okay to feel. The guitars float along similar to the way the Dessner’s of The National work their magic. And the chorus is just sublime. Lance William’s ingenious vocal line moulds phenomenally with Sophie Bellamy’s subtle Johnny Marr-esque riff to make a match made in indie rock heaven. Kidsmoke are one of those bands that in ten years, you want to come back to this song to make you feel young again. The beauty is that you don’t have to wait that long. That feeling arrives with every listen; fleeting and brief, but no less real. If you ever find yourself in Wrexham, Kidsmoke are an essential catch. Just don’t go there for a picnic, I have literally seen ten year old kids throw chips at an old lady there before.

Words by James Kitchen