Kenneth Minor - Retirement (2022) Hi Res

Kenneth Minor must be playing to their humor when they talk of Retirement. As a collection, Retirement reveals Kenneth Minor’s dynamic range. The 12 tracks pull directly from the band’s deep reservoir of influences for the thrill of the ride.

The new record features twangy guitar riffs, pop refrains, entertaining guitar solos wrapped in soundscapes, distorted picking, snotty banging with a honky-tonk piano or some kind of blues-punk attitude with a wink (Down My Spine, Tears Don't Dry in Rainy Season, Always, When It's All Gone). There are also swampy-mystical, hypnotic songs dipped in buckets of psychedelic paint. Songs with supporting cello lines and the use of a flugelhorn, which, after pleasant melodies, might just as well end in a completely surprising noise inferno of an evil fuzz guitar dueling with an atonally beautiful saxophone. Mystical tremolo guitar alternating with a punk-like chorus and dizzying drum rolls. Or clapping along for two minutes to an ascetically designed “mini anthem”. (Down in Our Hearts, Pictures, Crew Love’s Coming, You). In addition, there are songs whose narrative thread is clearly in the foreground and the extent of the musical accompaniment varies in each case. From a light-footed, strumming guitar accompaniment placed in a warm mellotron bed, to picturesque bass lines paired with dreamy guitar picking and Caribbean-like Beguine rhythms to a certain microcosmic majesty. (Is This the World We’re Living in, All Your Demons, From What We Know, The Day She Came By).

Anyone looking for lyrical triviality will not find it. Personal stories are told in a humorous, profound but also serious way, text and music deliberately run counter to each other or harmoniously hand in hand. Optimistic melancholy hovers over the music. Similar to the music, there is also a certain variety of topics such as the volatility of interpersonal relationships, the impartiality of the childhood perspective, criticism of capitalism, death and farewell, but also the beautiful moments in life.

There’s an organic feel to the whole record and just like they did it holed up in the same room for days, it’s not their musicianship alone which keeps them producing with refined, famliar clarity.
Doubling down on the family in-house vibe, on Retirement, Kenneth Minor drummer Florian Helleken takes on the production role.