The Kicks
Nashville, Tennessee, United States | INDIE
Music
Press
They say rock & roll is dead but I beg to differ. It’s alive & well in, of all places, Nashville. American Bang, The Raconteurs, Kings Of Leon, all call Nashville home. Another band to add to that list is the Kicks.
The Kicks are one of those bands who does rock the way it should be done. The kind that kicks you in your butt, wakes you up after a late night, & puts the life back in your soul after its been sucked out by the weekly 9 to 5. For their debut album “The Rise of King Ritchie”, they worked with two great producers Mitch Dane & Vance Powell. Vance Powell has worked with some of the best in modern rock like the Kings of Leon, The Raconteurs & the White Stripes. Every track on “The Rise of King Ritchie” is a standout & none are over produced. Songs like “Turn It Out”, “Shake It Loose”, & “Hawk Eyes” showcase the bands ability to truly rock while ballads like “Juliette” showcase the bands harmonies & influences like Paul McCartney & Tom Petty.
I’ve decided to highlight the track “Hawk Eyes” which can be downloaded for free from the bands website(along with the rest of “The Rise of King Ritchie”). “Hawk Eyes” showcases each band members talent perfectly from Jordan Phillips’ killer vocals, to Lucas Cummins’ hard hitting drums that kick your pulse up a notch. This is the kind of song to start your weekend off with! So download “Hawk Eyes” & when the clock strikes 5, put it on, turn it up & remind yourself that rock is still alive in a place called Nashville & in a band called the Kicks. - Music City Interactive
Nashville, TN may be best known as a Country music mecca, but there is another movement that is coming from the south and it's the return of rock & roll. Leading that movement is The Kicks, a four-piece eclectic, indie rock outfit that bring massive melodies, epic guitar riffs, irresistible rhythms and lyrics that do it all without the hipster tag. The band grew up on heavy doses of Queen, The Beatles, The Byrds and Foo Fighterswhich can be heard in their music. Formed after meeting in college four years ago, The Kicks ended up being one of the most talked about non-Country bands in Nashville. They’ve supported John Mayer, Rooney, Owl City and Hot Chelle Rae, showcased at Austin City Limits and performed on the Van’s Warped Tour. Their song, “Good Morning,” was used in a national television ad campaign for Lowe’s, which was heard by millions and other tunes were used in TV shows such as “The Vampire Diaries”and “Pretty Little Liars.” Their new album, Tonight Changes Everything, with the guidance of Grammy Award winning producers Mitch Dane and Vance Powell (Jack White, Kings of Leon), was released last week and features the infectious track “Hawk Eyes". - A&R Worldwide
Nashville, TN may be best known as a Country music mecca, but there is another movement that is coming from the south and it's the return of rock & roll. Leading that movement is The Kicks, a four-piece eclectic, indie rock outfit that bring massive melodies, epic guitar riffs, irresistible rhythms and lyrics that do it all without the hipster tag. The band grew up on heavy doses of Queen, The Beatles, The Byrds and Foo Fighterswhich can be heard in their music. Formed after meeting in college four years ago, The Kicks ended up being one of the most talked about non-Country bands in Nashville. They’ve supported John Mayer, Rooney, Owl City and Hot Chelle Rae, showcased at Austin City Limits and performed on the Van’s Warped Tour. Their song, “Good Morning,” was used in a national television ad campaign for Lowe’s, which was heard by millions and other tunes were used in TV shows such as “The Vampire Diaries”and “Pretty Little Liars.” Their new album, Tonight Changes Everything, with the guidance of Grammy Award winning producers Mitch Dane and Vance Powell (Jack White, Kings of Leon), was released last week and features the infectious track “Hawk Eyes". - A&R Worldwide
Critics are often drawn to the kind of rock ’n’ roll formalism that The Kicks display so cunningly, but the Nashville quartet is really good at it — their mastery of the post-Beatles, quasi-power-pop vocabulary is amazing. On their new full-length, Tonight Changes Everything, they perform songs that a formalism-loving critic can admire, and it could be that normal listeners will appreciate them almost as much.Mitch Dane’s production comprises Queen-style mock-classical flourishes, melodies borrowed from half-forgotten ’70s pop singles, and moments when the instrumentation drops out and the drums make their statement. I hear echoes of The Move by way of Cheap Trick, riffs that reference everything from Mick Ronson to Alex Chilton’s “Bangkok,” and codas featuring chiming guitars. “Standing on Top of the World” may be Tonight’s finest track, but it’s all excellent — students, close your textbooks and listen. - Nashville Scene
Critics are often drawn to the kind of rock ’n’ roll formalism that The Kicks display so cunningly, but the Nashville quartet is really good at it — their mastery of the post-Beatles, quasi-power-pop vocabulary is amazing. On their new full-length, Tonight Changes Everything, they perform songs that a formalism-loving critic can admire, and it could be that normal listeners will appreciate them almost as much.Mitch Dane’s production comprises Queen-style mock-classical flourishes, melodies borrowed from half-forgotten ’70s pop singles, and moments when the instrumentation drops out and the drums make their statement. I hear echoes of The Move by way of Cheap Trick, riffs that reference everything from Mick Ronson to Alex Chilton’s “Bangkok,” and codas featuring chiming guitars. “Standing on Top of the World” may be Tonight’s finest track, but it’s all excellent — students, close your textbooks and listen. - Nashville Scene
1984, The Kicks
Just in case the guitars and falsetto vocals didn't give you enough hooks, the Nashville power-pop band doubled them.
-Brian Mansfield - USA Today
"The Four Kicks chose the right name. Their tunes kick your butt and then 3 more times just to make sure you heard them"-Randy Co-Host WXRY Unsigned - WXRY
"The Four Kicks chose the right name. Their tunes kick your butt and then 3 more times just to make sure you heard them"-Randy Co-Host WXRY Unsigned - WXRY
"Music comes at me all day long. For that I am grateful, especially when it knocks me out like The Four Kicks! The lead voice, the riffs, the songwriting - I love these guys!"
Dan Keen, VP ASCAP - ASCAP
"Music comes at me all day long. For that I am grateful, especially when it knocks me out like The Four Kicks! The lead voice, the riffs, the songwriting - I love these guys!"
Dan Keen, VP ASCAP - ASCAP
Discography
Tonight Changes Everything (coming Sept. 2012)
The Sputnik Sessions (2011)
The Rise of King Richie (2009)
Photos
Bio
The Kicks may be young, but they are quick to admit that in a decidedly non-hipster
way, they do indeed plan to rock you. Never interested in moping, navel gazing or
wallowing in the emotional muck and mire that permeates so much of the modern
music culture, Jordan Phillips (lead vocals, rhythm guitar,) Adam Stark (lead guitar,
keys, backing vocals,) Gabriel Anderson (bass, backing vocals) and Lucas Cummins
(drums) intend to take your breath away with massive melodies, epic guitar riffs,
irresistible rhythms and lyrics that practically force you to sing along. Though perfectly
comfortable in clubs, this is music made for stadiums and with every intention that's
exactly where The Kicks are heading.
“What initially inspired all of us to start this band,” Phillips recalls, “was the desire to
create rock and roll music not only influenced by, but also played like rock and roll
music used to be played. We grew up listening to McCartney, Queen, Aerosmith, The
Beatles, The Stones, Faces, The Byrds, Foo Fighters, White Stripes, Petty, Springsteen
and the other godparents of the genre. We wanted to play music that made us feel the
same way those bands had.” Stark agrees. Having discovered the unbridled joy and
freedom of the 60s and 70s era music his father played, he set his sights high. “There
was such a spirit of freedom and exploration with the sounds in that music,” he
conveys. “They were pushing boundaries and exploring uncharted territory. We
wanted to pursue that pure energy – that raw excitement – and to share that
connection with an audience.”
The Kicks came together after meeting in college in 2008. The chemistry was
immediate and within just a few gigs the band became one of the most talked about
non-Country bands in Nashville. Club audiences around Music City and the general
Southeastern corner of the US grinned and grooved as these impossibly gifted and
improbably young musicians delivered shows that regularly earned them favorable
comparisons to their heroes. They earned coveted opening slots supporting
heavyweights like John Mayer and Los Lonely Boys and performed at the Austin City
Limits Festival and South By Southwest and the Van's Warped Tour. Their song “Good
Morning” was heard by millions in a national television ad campaign for Lowe's and
other songs were heard in shows like Vampire Diaries and Pretty Little Liars.
Four years, two independent records and countless breathless gigs later the band has
delivered ?Tonight Changes Everything', a new full-length album that continues to
celebrate and honor the best rock and roll of the last half century while simultaneously
embracing many of the most impressive aspects of today's modern music scene. With
the guidance and expertise of Grammy Award winning producers Mitch Dane and
Vance Powell (Jack White, Raconteurs, Kings of Leon) and a collection of guitars, amps
and effect pedals that in other circumstances would qualify as a decent inventory for a
boutique music shop, this third Kicks release is potent, focused, perfectly realized and
brutally catchy. For Stark, Tonight Changes Everything accomplishes everything the
band set out to do musically and lyrically. “From what we are singing to how we are
singing it, this is a record about hope,” he says. “Hope is what sustains us through
struggle and allows us to keep pushing through – even when we feel like we've got
nothing left.”
“Yes we want to play arenas one day,” Anderson admits. “But we also want to make
music that matters; genuine, authentic music that is a direct reflection of our hearts
and minds.” The last four years of trench work has taught the band something
important about the value of determination, resolve, encouragement and vision; all of
which are on display in songs like “My Love Is Good,” “Hard to Believe” and the set's
first single “Live Fast, Die Young.” Phillips feels that the band has tapped a new level of
purpose with these songs. “We have spent the past few years asking ourselves the
tough questions,” he adds. “Why are we playing in a band? What do The Kicks have to
say?” The result is a batch of songs with a consistently upbeat, inspiring message of
solidarity, optimism and determination to thrive in this world by helping each other
along. In these trying times it's a message The Kicks feel still needs to be heard. “We
aren't heavy-handed and self- important enough to think that whatever we write is
going to be the most important thing anyone has ever heard,” Phillips adds, “But I do
think that art with integrity is art with intent. Our intent is to leave people feeling
better than before we played, that's all.”
With Tonight Changes Everything in tow and a renewed sense of purpose The Kicks are
hitting the road with one clear objective; to take their already impressive live show to a
new level and to help their fans have a blast. “We know that people comes to Kicks
shows to have a good time,” Anderson admi
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