Music
Press
Kapow! features McCall, former Fiery Furnace sideman Toshi Yano, and Negatones frontmen Jay and Justin Braun. The group’s tight, ’60s-style harmony pop is sunny with a bit of a creepy edge. 6/30/07 at Maxwells. - Kapow with the Fiery Furnaces at Maxwells
Imagine, if you can, equal parts Who rock opera and Dylan nonsense songs, played by a 7-piece Elephant Six psychedelic pop orchestra, and filigreed with oodles of bubblegum hooks, harmonies, and irresistible la-la-la choruses ... Throw in bubbling bass lines ... concise but emphatic guitar ... calming organ undertones and frenetic synth overlays, and you've got a wall of sound that'd give Phil Spector shivers. This band hit me and it felt like a kiss. - Jim Testa
Working the fictional Nuggets outtake angle, 'Make You Mine' avoids being nostalgia-drunk by DeLoreaning a blippy synth into the garage. Harmonized slur vocals and isolated feedback... the flipped 'Ticket To Ride' bridge proves that pop always saves the day. - Rob Mitchum
KAPOW!... full of 'la la la' choruses, vocal harmonies, garage-rock riffs... irresistable. - Jon Pareles
I'm hooked... 'Make You Mine' is a breath of fresh air... There's a lot of Beatles and Kinks in these songs... This is the kind of thing NME should be flipping out about. - You Ain't No Picasso
KAPOW! has a knack for 60s pop rock... and manages to keep its songs sounding fresh, vibrant and lacking that icky retro aftertaste. - Flux Factory
Discography
"3 Songs" featuring 'In Regards to the Children," "Girl," and "Make You Mine"
Photos
Bio
Following a two-year stint with The Fiery Furnaces and Franz Ferdinand, Toshi Yano returned to what he liked doing best - writing and arranging frantic, inspired, epic pop gems. Joined by an assemblage of well-known New York musicians from a diverse background of musical genres, Yano and the rest of Kapow released a 3-song demo (featuring "Make You Mine") tracked at NYC's Magic Shop. The recordings quickly made an impression and were warmly received and reviewed by internet taste-makers Pitchfork and Fluxblog. Kapow is currently putting the finishing touches on their first album, and now with a full 7-piece line-up, the live show has rapidly become a cause celebre in the international indie world. The band regularly plays shows supporting The Arctic Monkeys, Franz Ferdinand, The Fiery Furnaces, Blood On The Wall, Enon, Love As Laughter and We Are Wolves.
"IRRESISTABLE."
- Jon Pareles, The New York Times
"Saves the day."
- Rob Mitchum, Pitchfork
"A wall of sound that'd give Phil Spector shivers."
- Jersey Beat
"Fresh, vibrant."
- Fluxblog
"A breath of fresh air..."
- You Ainât No Picasso
"DANCE!"
- Awreye
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