So let me tell you a story of this trio of Winnipeg puck-rock vets who drunkenly decide to make an album before they’re sure if they’re a band or not. The result is a pretty damn good debut of passionate beer-soaked punk-rock recorded right off the floor. While it’s not really groundbreaking, the band never the less are three great local punk-rock performers let loose. Hearing the fully unleashed versions of Steve Hallick (the Crackdown), the rambling vocal screams and guitar jangles of Ian Lodewyks (Subcity) and Leif Gobeil (Vibrating Beds) fierce punk-rock growls on tracks like “Celebration” are something to behold. Now that ’90s sytle SoCal-infused dirty punk rock is dwindling locally, KoF has the opportunity, the passion and the raw power to really capitalize on the sound. Lodewyks’s rambling gravely screams over spastic guitar and punchy basslines sets the stage with the lead off “Shotgun.” Bassist Leif Gobeil’s songs are a faster and fiercer brand of punk-rock with tracks like “White Collar, Fluorescent Lights.” Overall, the real standout track is “Grand Mystifier,” a lighter-hearted punk-rock ’n’ roll number with damn catchy guitar riffs and a great chorus. Hopefully these guys extend their bender and stick it out for another album. (Transistor 66, www.transistor66.com) Kent Davies
Winnipeg music & culture since 1989