A Kiss For Jersey: Keep Your Head Above the Water

The Indie Review
By Sean Duregger
July 21, 2007

Band: A Kiss for Jersey

Album: Keep Your Head Above the Water

Label: Tragic Hero Records
Rating:

North Carolina’s A Kiss For Jersey has been stomping around the East Coast since 2004. Their debut release Keep Your Head Above The Water was released by Tragic Hero Records with gorgeous packaging and strong production values, but it’s the content that left me a little lacking.

Don’t get me wrong, there are moments on the album that shine, Zach’s vocals are some of the best I’ve heard. Their is talent in much of the musicianship and songwriting. My problem with this album was mainly the generic Hardcore element that has been injected into the music. There is such potential in A Kiss For Jersey’s songwriting, but when it comes to the breakdowns and the screaming, it is standard Hardcore/Screamo fare. There is one song where the Hardcore element works, Leave That Man Be is one of the strongest tracks on the album, and is an example of a great blend between the genres. Keep Your Head Above The Water is an above-average effort, but only a few songs actually stood out and made me want to hear them again.

I really hope A Kiss For Jersey is here to stay, I do see some major potential. I’ll be looking forward to how they approach their next album. Unfortunately, Keep Your Head Above Water barely rose above the generic Screamo/Hardcore sound and didn’t really cover as much new ground as I had hoped they would. There are sprinklings of genious among this almost forgettable album.

Stand out Tracks:

“Leave That Man Be”

“Real Men will be Found with their face flat on the ground”

“A Leave of Absence” (instrumental)