Locals to look out for

Kindest Cuts

The nights are cold and bleak. No matter how much you try to bundle up, the biting winter wind is going to catch you and hold you in a frozen embrace. You stare at your mittens debating whether the weather is finally going to make you give up hope for one more, nice day.

No matter how much you try to fight forever, it’s always just a blink away. The heartsick elixir of melancholy hides in every shiver and falling leaf. Fall is the most unforgiving of adversaries; that’s why you can only fight it with the strongest magic.

It’s times like these that I like to put on my headphones – luckily, Kindest Cuts has just put up a bunch of new demos. Their mix of synth and depression is just the kind of jazz to get my mojo going.

They describe themselves as “synth pop/post-punk from the hinterlands,” a description remarkably on the nose for the sound they create. “Handsome Killer” has a majestic transition from violin to a cold, calculated beat – ice pick synths and reverb-drenched vocals spinning the gossamer web of a psychopath. It’s the kind of song that begs to be enjoyed again and again.

The song “Prone” demonstrates a passion for its musical forefathers. The constant shadow of acts like New Order and Depeche Mode let you know that Patrick Short and Stacy Gaudreau have done their homework; this is obviously the kind of music they listen to and want to hear. Wouldn’t it be a better world if goth night was every night?

“The Dive” is simple and atmospheric: sounds whistle and screech like the wind outside your window, hinting at the illusion of a scream in the distance. Not bad for a song only one minute and 10 seconds long.

So pop on over to their Facebook page (www.facebook.com/kindestcuts) or SoundCloud (soundcloud.com/kindest-cuts) and stop fighting fall – give it a soundtrack worthy of its inevitability.