Stuart Kidd has played in a ton of bands, most notably BMX Bandits, The Wellgreen, Jonny (Euros Childs and Norman Blake), and Linden. However, he's also an accomplished musician on his own, recording under the moniker KiDD. The newest release from KiDD is out on Friday and it's called Chance Weekend and it's a tuneful joy of a listen, and a fine slab of big pop from a guy who's always been a natural at making that sort of thing.
Opener "A Picture I Don't Want To Paint" is equal parts Gorky's in terms of hooks, and Seventies Gold smoothness. A neat blend of a few genres, the song is one of the best things he's released on his own so far. Stuart Kidd's not only adept at recording all the parts here, but he's also, thankfully, familiar with how to conjure catchy melodies too. "Little One" is all Britpop goodness, even as "Forget Me Not" goes further back, to stuff like The Move and The Kinks for inspiration. I really liked "Tomorrow Sky", an expansive excursion into more languid territory, even as the light folk-y shuffle of "Like A Bullet" charmed even more. Elsewhere, the space-y "Unknown Hometown" made me think of the Super Furries, even as closer "Where Have They Gone" seemed to suggest a new direction, its insistent riff a bit harder than lots of the more laid-back stuff here.
Fans of Badly Drawn Boy, Gruff Rhys solo records, and Travis, for example, should find lots to love here on Chance Weekend. And to say that is not to diminish Stuart Kidd's own considerable talents but, rather, to highlight how nicely his solo work sits alongside that of his pop peers. What I'd also add, for those who've followed the bands he's played in, and followed his earlier work, is that the music of KiDD sounds larger here, with none of the pop-craft sacrificed as Stuart's gone towards a more polished, bigger sound.
Chance Weekend is out on Friday.
More details on KiDD via the official website, or the official Facebook page.
[Photo: Stu KiDD's Bandcamp page]