The Kut’s debut album, ‘Valley of Thorns’, released in 2018 was a long time in the making. After a promising start with the ‘Poisonest’ EP way back in 2005, followed by singles ‘The Vision’ and ‘Doesn’t Matter Anyway’, progress was derailed circa 2009 by contractual wranglings – one of those situations whereby an act can’t release anything, or be released. As a consequence, it took guts and a lot of fight for Princess Maha to break free and take control of her own destiny, establishing her own label and finally getting things moving again in 2014. Even since then, it’s been a long haul, and it’s fair to say that The Kut have sure as hell done it the hard way – the DIY way, making the success of the debut album even sweeter.
As for the success of the new album… well, the fans have spoken, and there are plenty of them. Blasting in at number one on the UK Rock Chart, it’s a clear sign that The Kut have really broken through, and that ‘Satellite’, released in February, (one of The Kut’s slower songs to date) which went top 20 on no fewer than three charts, was no fluke, but a sign of things to come.
If the pandemic killed off any touring momentum, their return to the live circuit has been one of renewed vigour, and that’s not all: while the debut was over a decade in coming, there’s been nothing ‘difficult’ about this second album, ‘GRIT’. It’s appropriately titled, and sums up both the attitude and the sound, the latter of which we were given a hint of in November of last year on the release of single ‘Animo’, which was strong from the first chord, and something of a return to The Kut’s poppy post-punk roots.
It’s the first track on the album, and serves to set the tone perfectly for an album that’s brimming with gritty guitars and sassy vocals and an electric energy. Everything is tight and everything is solid, and The Kut balances roaring fury with strong melody – and this is evidenced nowhere more clearly than on ‘Burn Your Bridges’.
But where ‘GRIT’ moves on from its predecessor is that it was written as an album, and feels like an album. It has a wider range of both styles and moods, yet at the same time feels entirely cohesive. Dr Princess Maha’s songwriting is faultless, and while the plays not only all the guitar parts but drums and bass on two of the tracks, credit is definitely due to the rest of the players on here, and the live lineup, for their part in the album’s success, and James LeRock Loughrey brings out the ROCK – as you’d expect for a producer with his credentials, which feature Def Leppard and Skindred on his CV.
‘Not Here For Love’ brings the mid-late 80s vibe of The Cult and The Mission with a layered lead guitar line, while ‘Brother’ treads new ground for The Kut, with a country twang and a psychedelic twist atop a shuffling 90s indie beat. Both work equally well. Things are altogether breezier on the bouncy ‘On My Own’ and ‘The Runaways’, which stray towards punk pop, but manage to remain on the right side of Avril Lavigne to be acceptable. The latter, with its ‘staying out for the summer’ hookline is a perfect tune for long sunny days, and is in many respects a close relation of ‘Hollywood Rock ‘n’ Roll’.
Wrapping up with the powerhouse punk rock of ‘And 1 More’ (which has encore written all over it), ‘GRIT’ is a tight album that’s pure quality from beginning to end.
