The new Kill Rock Stars album from Jad Fair and Samuel Locke Ward is somehow even more fun than the pair's last team-up. That one, released earlier in 2023, suggested a meeting of the minds between these two, but Destroy All Monsters is just a total delight.
With song after song named after famous monster movies, things like "The Monster That Challenged the World" and "The Invisible Man" bounce with Jad's usual wit and energy. "The Walking Dead are Walking" even adds in a Sixties-style Beat Group sound to push things along. "Dracula Has Risen from The Dead" has the most complexity here, I think, while "The Book of the Dead" made me laugh loudly as Jad gets caught up in recounting the plot of The Evil Dead. Elsewhere, the title cut is both a nod to the Godzilla films of the Sixties, but also a sort of warning. The sound is fuzzy and propulsive, and every cut here signals how smart it was for each of these players to pair up.
Destroy All Monsters by Jad Fair and Samuel Locke Ward is a hoot. The whole thing just sort of roars forward on the strength of Jad's youthful obsessions and Ward's sense of what makes a good DIY pop song. Yes, there's a little variety here in style, but for the most part, this whole album is a party for the ears. I loved every bit of this!
Destroy All Monsters by Jad Fair and Samuel Locke Ward is out now via Kill Rock Stars.