Album Review: kmoe - K1

A balancing act delivered with concise punches, kmoe’s ability as a musician is compelling to witness in the long run. ‘K1’ waddles through emo-dipped noise pop and digicore, all harnessed through kmoe’s strong melodic and vocal patches.

‘K1’ compiles an otherwise strong sonic identity that kmoe is willing to throw himself into, balancing between noisy guitar pop and saturated digicore beats that allow his voice to express raw deliveries. His ability to construct sticky melodies within the set of songs’ tightly knit runtime only helps bring out Kmoe’s strength as a musician, wielding the noise, the guitar, and the electronic tones without overwhelming the other. The impeccable noisy beginnings of ‘Dumpster fire, ‘Thousand yard stare’, and ‘Watershed’; the digicore grooves of ‘Bloodbath (Dance)’, ‘Carpet’, and ‘Aired out’; and the emotive finish of ‘Don’t be like mouse’ and ‘The way I should’ are concisely strong in its construction and hooks. Never losing the impact it needs to unleash.

The emotive streak continues to follow through within the album’s writing. Emo-tinged ache wraps around kmoe’s struggle within relationship turmoil, personal disappointments, and dead-eyed ennui that only pulls him to swim deeper into that dull wallow. An overall consistent theme in witnessing how the heartbreak and existential anguish have left him empty, feeling nothing but somber emotions filling up his mind, with no essence of hope to allow him to move forward from those experiences.

While there is still room to grow in carving a unique take on these sounds - as he is not the only one really pulling these novel takes of noise pop, indie rock, and digicore - and the emotional wallow may be crushing from start to finish, ‘K1’ wins things over with brief yet striking melodies and emo-tinged ache expressed with kmoe’s tense performances. Delivering what he necessarily needs to showcase without diluting the punch offered within the album. A long-awaited starting point for kmoe, landing more hits than misses in the process.

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Favorite Tracks: ‘Dumpster Fire’, ‘Thousand yard Stare’, ‘Watershed’, ‘Bloodbath (Dance)’, ‘Carpet’, ‘Aired Out’, ‘Don’t Be Like Mouse’, ‘The way I should’

Least Favorite Track: ‘You ruined it’