THE DETACHMENT KIT

THE DETACHMENT KIT
THEY RAGING QUIET ARMY (2002)
320 KBPS

Between their epic titles, like "Yourself: A Majesty of Infinite Space" and "The Illustrious Daniel Boone: Pioneer of Social Ingenuity," and what seems to be a willingness to sound different, which could backfire and appear abstract and schizophrenic, The Detachment Kit could come off as slightly pretentious. In their 10-song debut, the band ranges from Brian Eno-esque keyboard tinkling on "Sitting Still, Talking About Jets" to indie rock, complete with screaming vocals.
"They Raging, Quiet Army" offers a strong, catchy opening with the twangy guitar and bass mixture of "High Seas" that, while not grabbing you and pulling you in, makes you take notice and wonder about the rest of the album. The driving drums and repeated guitar riff of "11.22.63" isn't a complete 360 from the opening, but offers a fresh sound. "Sitting Still, Talking About Jets" offers a rougher intro which becomes melodic. The song ends up sticking out, trying to appear too clean or traditional than previous songs and adds background vocals that almost start to annoy. "Dead Angels Make Slow Sound," a tight song both lyrically and instrumentally segues into the more conventional, and slightly boring, ballad of "The Euphio Question." The Detachment Kit do, however, show they can pull off a mellow sound with "Never Hear Your Words," which starts off stripped down and then builds up to screaming and a certain heaviness.
The mellow sound doesn't last and the second half of the album quickly returns, with no apologies, to screaming rock. "Yourself: A Majesty of Infinite Space" and "Hurricane Designed For People" take the strengths of earlier in the album and head off in a slightly different direction that seems to work. The Detachment Kit definitely try to live up to the epic they've created on "Another Great Champion Sought, Thought, And Died," and it's obvious just from the intro they have something up their sleeves. One of the strongest and most unique songs on the album, "Another Great Champion…" adds some texture with vocal distortion and has a certain essence of being freeform and open ended, something that had to be built up to with the earlier eight songs. Closing, the band alters the mood slightly, stretching the dynamics. "The Illustrious Daniel Boone: Pioneer of Social Ingenuity" is a nice closer with a melodic feel underneath the lyrics like "so bust it up, crank it out, push them down and let it out why do all the heroes of our time need dashing suits to fight our crime - can't they see they're not like me they can not even bleed." You can't help but wonder if by fading out on "glory will have its day" if they're trying to tell us something.
"They Raging, Quiet Army" is a promising debut with range of dynamics and a generally strong and sometimes obscure lyrics. The Detachment Kit offer 10 songs that each stand up on their own which is more than most bands can say about their first album.

1. High Seas
2. 11.22.63
3. Sitting Still, Talking About Jets
4. Dead Angels Make Slow Sound
5. The Euphio Question
6. Never Hear Your Words
7. Yourself: A Majesty of Infinite Space
8. Hurricane Designed for People
9. Another Great Champion Sought, Thought, And Died
10. The Illustrious Daniel Boone: Pioneer of Social Ingenuity