kilmore place

“Their sound and lyrics are reminiscent of alternative-era rock, heavily guitardriven and packed with emotional catharsis. Kilmore Place definitely has a competitive edge when it comes to wooing the masses.”

- Xuan Wang, The Modline

“With Light vocals and stripped-down-to-basics Pop-Rock instrumentation, the latest EP from Kilmore Place shows us a more sophisticated band; they have honed their craft and sound from their previous, self-titled EP … ‘What Happened?’ isn’t the question I was asking after listening to the seven meager songs here…what I was asking myself was, “When’s the full album coming out?” Because the thing about ‘What Happened?” is, once you listen to it you’ll want to hear much, much more from Kilmore Place.”

- SteveK, confrontmagazine.com

“This Vancouver five piece’s second EP shows an incredible amount of growth…a really killer six song collection…there is the near-folkie “Yesterday White Sand Shore” which I keep repeating. This will get airplay for sure.”

- Stuart Derdeyn, The Province

There aren’t many times I can use the word “jaw-dropping” to describe a live show, but by the time Kilmore Place reaches the second verse of their first song, the distance between my raised eyebrows and dropped jaw is significant. Let me begin with the musicians and instruments. Lead singer Ryan Bacchus plays an acoustic guitar, lending an emotional element to the vocals and the music. Marcus Abramzik plays the six-string bass, something I’ve only seen in Hey Rosetta!. Bands win Backstage Vancouver brownie points when the bass is an active (and sometimes even complex) part of the music, and Marcus is as important to the songs as the guitars. Local band 2nd Floor Suicide has similar success with their bass player, while Katastroyka’s bass falls short of this accomplishment. Greg England is mind-blowing with precision picking on his electric guitar(s), and Ryan’s voice is unusually surreal. It helps that he can actually hit the high notes.
In terms of music, is it wrong that I prefer the songs that weren’t on their EPs? Greg and Ryan team up for the Monkey song, which I’d say is my favourite but for the fact that it will be everyone else’s favourite too. Much like the Plain White T’s “Hey There Delilah,” it’s an instant classic (but in a good way). “The Guards Don’t Sleep” might be their best live song that has been recorded and released, but it’s not as good as their brand new song “Bag It Up,” which is nothing short of mind-blowing at this point in the show. “Wait” has never been more powerful, and yet it’s different from the recorded version. There are amazing solos from Greg in this song, and Marcus is very talented too. It’s watching each individual musician that helps me determine the quality of the band, and Kilmore Place passes the parts-of-the-whole test with flying colours and a light show.
Big fans of Arkells, the band throws in a cover of the first verse of “John Lennon.” We’ll be attending the Arkells concert on November 19th, and we’re all really excited about it. In the meantime, I still can’t believe how incredible the Kilmore Place live show is. I enjoyed the music on their EPs (since anything even remotely tinged with emo will win me over), but compared to their recorded music, Kilmore Place is best enjoyed live, and I’ll say no more about it.

Lauren Eldridge, Backstage Vancouver

http://backstagevancouver.com/?p=2363
- Lauren Eldridge, Backstage Vancouver

Kilmore Place rocks! These 5 guys really know how to scrunch and crunch out a tune. I knew I'd like them. I kept telling peeps that this was going to be a blast. No one was disappointed. EVERYONE had a good time...

The mix of keys, rhythmatic acoustic guitar, tommy-gun drumming, inspired vocals and not least... sweet slithering lead guitar was somewhere near perfect. The executed their songs, in that I mean they killed them, and the ladies couldn't help but jump up and shake their foundations.

I really enjoyed the bit of Queen they threw into the middle of one of their songs. You had to be listening to catch it... splendipulous!

-Mickael Maddison

http://blogs.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendId=63249350&blogId=505539025 - Mickael Maddison, Kamloops Live Review