Self Defense Family – Colicky

Colicky is the name of the new mini-album, or better said, EP, by the band Self Defense Family. The cover of Colicky is particularly impressive. A woman, her gaze averted, surrounded by an aura of disappointment. Thus, the captivating image represents the theme of the album: the disintegration of love and intimacy.

The music of Self Defense Family sounds as naked and unprotected as the stranger in the photograph, and Staying Current is anything but an appetiser that is easy to digest. The musicians play their way through the almost unmelodious piece in a bulky, echoing and sluggish manner.

All True At The Same Time promises better things to come with a somewhat gentler guitar intro, but then Kidlon's voice enters again. Somehow, it always remains out of place, suffering and struggling against the rest of the arrangement. The struggle is so intense that it makes listening a painful experience.

After the second track, you wonder whether Kidlon just can't sing or whether this complete absence of connecting elements between vocals and instruments is part of the concept. Colicky was created in times of personal unrest, the press release says.

It Isn't Very Clear, Is It? is just as unwieldy as the songs that precede it, but it has a dark, atmospheric shoegaze sound. It's a song that can actually captivate in its own way. Maliciously, you could explain this with the lack of presence of singer Kidlon.

But with Brittany Murphy In 8 Mile, the innovative power of Self Defense Family becomes apparent for the first time: the seven-minute-long piece is an epochal cabinet of curiosities made of noise, punk, psychedelic rock and rage. Kidlon's unmotivated voice returns, but for the first time it seems to fit—still off-key, but fitting nonetheless. Kidlon, who also co-founded the noise punk band Drug Church, fully exploits his strengths here. He is at the centre, screaming and wailing, while the instruments around him go wild in a tornado of sound.

Colicky starts off disconcertingly, slightly irritatingly, but then manages to build up to a conciliatory climax with the final song. Nevertheless, the avant-garde approach to rock music that Self Defense Family claim will hardly be able to convince the average rocker. Colicky is for the brave who are keen to plunge into an adventure. But even then, it is a nerve-wracking listening experience.

Self Defense Family – Colicky

Release: 09/09/2016

1. Staying Current
2. All True At The Same Time
3. It Isn't Very Clear, Is It?
4. Brittany Murphy In 8 Mile