Leisure Tank - Wetsuit

  by Steve Kinrade

published: 22 / 12 / 2016

---

Leisure Tank have been described as a power pop duo evoking the spirit of PJ Harvey circa 'Dry', but to me they are so much more to this frankly lazy journalistic comparison. Consisting of K.C. Mackanzie (vocals, guitar) and long-standing friend and collaborator Budi (drums and percussion), the German singer-songwriter delivers a muscular musical tour de force worthy of any 2016 release. 'Wet Suit' is a powerful calling card, displaying a consistently high level of song-smithery from Mackanzie. With taut, minimal production – but sounding huge, this album explores the themes of inter-personal relationships, of lovers, of children. It all carries an atmosphere of the deep-south, of Americana, and K.C.’s blues-tinged voice that carries no reference to her Germanic roots. The album opener, 'No Beat No More', is a good example of this motif, which is followed by 'Red Roses' with Mackenzie highlighting her vocal dexterity. Soldier is awesome, with its opening mandolin riff; 'Black Dog' is bluesy, urgent, powerful and wistful all at the same time. There are also more straightforward up-temp rock workouts, 'Wetsuit', 'My Boy' and 'The Dancer', a particular track which, because of Mackenzie’s vocal range, is probably the most Harvey-esque, especially the line “You're beautiful but not unbreakable”. Yeah, I could see Polly singing that line. My personal favourite 'Isabella' concludes the album. This is a fine example of maximising and executing the ethos of the minimal production that is the by-word for 'Wetsuit'. I have heard a lot of albums this year, but this is probably the finest for me. If you want to witness top quality musical craftsmanship and song-writing I urge you to listen to this. Yeah, check them out first on YouTube, but that doesn’t do justice to how well, in hi-fidelity and sonically, that this collection of songs has been produced and mastered. Going by the number of gigs K.C. and Budi have completed in the UK and Europe this year, I am sure that their fantastic work ethic will pay off by getting this great album to a wider audience. I have a strong feeling that they are going to be gigging 'Wetsuit' far into 2017 too. And they deserve to. 'Wetsuit' is a triumph.

Track Listing:-

1 No Beat No More
2 Shadow
3 Red Roses
4 Soldier
5 Black Dog
6 Wet Suit
7 Caroline
8 Island
9 The Dancer
10 My Boy
11 Isabella

Band Links:-

http://www.leisuretank.com/
https://twitter.com/leisuretank
https://www.facebook.com/leisuretank/

Post A Comment

---

Comment

Name

your name

Location

ie London, UK

Submit

Check box to submit

Adam Coxon
Adrian Janes
Amanda J. Window
Andrew Twambley
Anthony Dhanendran
Benjamin Howarth
Cila Warncke
Daniel Cressey
Darren Aston
Dastardly
Dave Goodwin
Denzil Watson

Dixie Ernill
Dominic B. Simpson
Eoghan Lyng
Fiona Hutchings
Harry Sherriff
Helen Tipping
Jamie Rowland
John Clarkson
Julie Cruickshank
Kimberly Bright
Lisa Torem
Maarten Schiethart

Malcolm Carter
Marie Hazelwood
Mark Rowland
Nick Dent-Robinson
Nicky Crewe
Nige Nudds
Philamonjaro
Richard Lewis
Shirley Procter
Spencer Robertshaw
Steev Burgess
Steve Kinrade

Steve Miles
Tommy Gunnarsson
Zena Grieg