‘Everyday I get up, Gotta get on the street, Get my head in a book, So I don’t look at my feet, Am I making work now? I don’t know, I can’t tell which way to go’ (A Race)

Thrills is the debut full-length from Richmond, Virginia’s K9 and it proves a thoroughly engaging one as the band artfully fashion a myriad of contrasting influences into something very distinctively their own.  Shimmering jangle pop and a certain indie punk raggedness strike first.  But as the album evolves the underlying hardcore snap that binds their sound becomes increasingly apparent.

This is, perhaps, most evident in the song structures themselves.  It can be in your face, such as on the tautly coiled Who Ya Know and Bootstraps, but it is a subtly perceptible influence throughout.  From the languid country twang of the opener, Arms Fall Off, to the sombrely roiling melody that propels Shades of Red, by way of the jauntily upbeat The Island, K9 succeed in marrying their tightly crafted song writing with some intriguingly unexpected twists.

The dual vocalists – one laconically drawled, the other sweetly melodic – add another vivid layer to this dynamic.  They weave an eclectic path as they muse on the entrenched status quo, the myths of meritocracy, and the dangers of sleepwalking into authoritarianism, alongside odes to the flawed delights of living on the James River and the quiet pleasures of drifting through life.  Thrills flashes a bright and breezy smile.  But don’t be deceived – the bite that lurks beneath is a sharp one.