Kissing The Pink - Naked

Magnet Records

It has become an increasingly common occurrence these days where I find myself purchasing an album I otherwise would have disregarded because it had been buried away in the recesses of repurposed wooden crates for far too long, and I felt the need to relieve the local record store of its perceived burden. Occasionally, real gems of albums can be found by implementing this method. If it weren't only occasionally, however, then it wouldn't be worth half the fun.

If you're perfectly alright with indulging run of the mill New Wave Balderdash when much better options are always available, and can look past the otherwise unappetizing band name/album title combination, than you could find a lot to love in Kissing The Pink's "Naked".

For an album billed to me as "electronic" and presenting itself with a cover such as this, "Naked" is nowhere near as macabre, DIY or off the walls as one would expect it to be. It has a few musical ideas that, on their own are promising, but when put together with Kissing The Pink's general sound, aren't all that interesting. Saxophone here, female vocalist there. When will it end?

For the most part, this record remains perfectly in line with the conventions of gothic rock--the opener sounds like it was ripped off the best Depeche Mode record you never heard--peppered with abstract lyrical mysticisms that, when more closely examined, are decidedly meaningless. It is injected with a bit more electromagnetism than your average 80s record, but that doesn't make up for the lack of macabre vibes that it is so dearly missing.

Rating: 3/5