threevue

release date: sometime in 2009

Songs About Zombies And Trust Issues is a CD-R album that was sold at Ben Barnett shows during this past year. Mr. Barnett was the brainchild of Kind of Like Spitting, one of my favorite bands. I’ve always been drawn to KOLS because Barnett sounds like he’s teetering on the edge of a breakdown during every song; it’s like the sound of his own voice is enough to push him over the edge. And for making music in a DIY-fashion most of the time (there was one “major” release on Barsuk in 2002), this fugly crazyman from Portland has always created diverse and expansive music, with only a couple crappy albums in a long line of releases. And he’s a motherfucker on the guitar, man.

The past two full-length KOLS releases were a bit disappointing, in that they felt too much like compilations of songs written and recorded all over the country to even be thought of as albums. Funny thing is
Songs About Zombies And Trust Issues sounds just like that, too, but much better. I think it has to do with the fact that these are much better songs. There’s a song with a Harry Potter reference (“Leave My Friends Alone”) and one of his better cover songs (Lennon’s “Jealous Guy”), although he’s made some great covers (you can get them for free here under “media”), and the fuzzy 4-track sound really fits with these songs.

Truth be told, this may be the best introductory album for someone looking to get into Kind of Like Spitting. You can find this album pretty easily on the web if you use this thing called Google. Apparently, Mr. Barnett is leading a new band, called Blunt Mechanic, who is releasing an album on Barsuk early next year. Considering how good Songs About Zombies And Trust Issues is, I can’t wait.