“The
Bitterscene club night laid on a festive feast at the Christmas party
at The Bassment in Chelmsford recently.Making a welcome return were Kicker
with their blend of sixties mellowness and bedsit indie tunes.Having
made such an impact back in April, Kicker were invited back as the special
seasonal guests to get all the indie-lovers partying. Kicker really are
no turkeys! Fronted by the elfin beauty, Jill Drew, they certainly packed
a punch.Her gorgeously rich voice mixed with the band's perfect musicianship
made this a cracker of a gig.
Boy, Have You Got It? is the kind of track Chris Evans would use for a theme tune with its driven beat, funky sixties groove and Jill's wonderful vocal performance. She claimed to be "too drunk to sing" on One Fine Day but sang perfectly on a tune laden with laidback guitar-pop. An undiscovered summer classic it recalled the classy beats of The Zombies and had a West Coast addictiveness that suggests Kicker will soon achieve greater success.
They
proved to be a versatile bunch and when drummer Phil Sutton took over
the vocals it created more of a lo-fi mood. Long Way Down is pure
Yo La Tengo and Why, Paraguay? stirs the spirit of indie-gods Felt.
The highlight was Tomorrow Always Comes where Kicker hijacked Bacharach and threw in some clever pop and made sweet sounds. The Bitterscene deserved to end the year on such a high. Here's to 2002 and another vintage year for the best new indie venue in Essex.” - Live Review, BBC Essex Online, December 2001 (a shorter version of this review appeared on Channel 4 teletext 28/12/01).
“Housing
ex members of Velocette, Hood and Comet Gain, you'd be forgiven for thinking
that it would be a dream indie supergroup of sorts and Kicker don't disappoint
in living up to the promise of such heady delights. 'City Limits E.P.'
is the bands latest outing their fourth since their inception in 1998.
Four tracks of differing clarity make this release an inspired collection.
'On your floor' is replete with the kind of 60's style keyboards that
you just can't beat especially if they come part and parcel with a melody
to make you swoon, blush and smile, though not necessarily in that order.
'The
falling leaves' is a beefier prospect, again spiced in a glow of 60's
kaleidoscopic garage pop and emerging from the same primordial soup as
early Inspirals, Mystreated and ? and the Mysterions. Crafty or what?
Sunshine pop at it's most ardent rears it's head on 'Gone and Forgotten',
a jiggly wiggly vibrantly compulsive toe tapper of the highest order,
spiced with glassy summery keyboards and guitars set to a tale of forgotten
loves and we all know about that, though at the moment I've forgotten
what I had to remember. 'Baby don't worry' is spoilt throughout trying
to spot the 'magic chord' mentioned on the sleeve notes that's played
by Phil the drummer. That said it's a nice piece of sedate pop that nicely
rounds of this latest excursion to greatness.” Review of City
Limits ep on 
“I
wonder why the new Kicker EP is called "City Limits". Is it merely
a reference to a geographical borderline or a statement of fact? Each song
contains the mad drive of the city yet coated in the melancholy of its abjects,
the sorrow of the unwanted. "The Falling Leaves" is brilliant,
possessed, emotion-fuelled and utterly fantastic when it gets to the title
bit. Just get that deep-deep breath before he begins the second verse. Or
the addictive "On Your Floor" which I've been singing all morning,
it's the mazy whirlpool of sound going round my head. Or "Said and
Done" mournful, anguished, lush, a heartful of soul, and reviewed in
at least two zines I know of well over a year ago. But hell, my life is
just one missed bus after another. Do I care? Fuck no. I don't know what
soul music is meant to mean but when I listen to Kicker strange things happens.
Something involving emotions, feelings, the desire to truly live and all
that stuff. Life suddenly has a new sheen for three minutes. So I guess
that's soul music.” Wide Open Road fanzine, Autumn 2001
“London's
Kicker have taken a broom to their hitherto uninspired soul pop crossover
and swept away the bits that didn't quite fit. They pulsate with the sound
of old soul gold and a vibrant pop veneer that's embellished by neat arrangements.
It's such an accomplished blend that you have to salute them for appropriating
The Jam's 'Start' and not once making you think of The Beatles' 'Taxman'.
And when they cheekily rip off the riff from Brenton Wood's soul nugget
'Gimme Little Sign' you can forgive them, right? Right. - Live Review
“Now
that Space Rock and Space Lounge and all this shit are dead, what do you
call this kind of music? Kicker are two boys and two girls who I've just
unfairly categorized with two pretty dated terms. But, hey, I like "indie
rock" and most of you like "punk rock" and I can't think
of two more dated terms. So, yeah, Kicker might very well be London's
most recent answer to Yo La Tengo. But that's cool. They don't sound just
like Yo La Tengo and they don't sound just like Stereolab although I'll
bet that their collective membership could come up with at least five
records from each band in their personal record collections. Okay, it's
a little derivative. But it's still quite nice and both sides are good
enough pop tunes to have been the a-side.
Now
that Yo La Tengo are trying to sound like Stereolab and Stereolab are
trying to sound like a Mentos ad, I welcome this single with open arms.
I still collect records from both Yo La Tengo and Stereolab hoping and
praying that their new material will sound like Kicker. But I'm usually
disappointed. Remember when Sonic Youth started getting like that and
suddenly we all discovered Polvo? I'm hoping for the same thing will happen
here. So, here is Kicker with some scintillating pop music. Nice vocals,
bright guitars and keys and catchy songs.
Second
single (I think) from London's Kicker is not as immediate as their debut.
Two tracks that venture deeper into Stereolab ‘Emperor Tomato Ketchup’
landscapes and maybe even a little Loaded era Velvets. It's pop music
with blasé form characterized by methodic drum rhythms and repetitious
guitar down strokes. It's funny, but it's a form and style that can be
found in a lot of Velvets stuff (which obviously must influence Kicker
as well as Stereolab). But it's more pronounced on the first Modern Lovers
record. The a-side of this single (which is brilliant the longer it goes
on) owes a lot to ‘Road Runner’ and ‘Someone I Care About’.”