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Year of the Rabbit
by: Brandon 1.28.2003
Year of the Rabbit

It has been years since Ken Andrews has shown his face in the music industry. Since his days with the short-lived but godlike band Failure, Andrews has pretty much laid dormant. Stuck in his studio in Beverly Hills, Andrews stayed completely content with only producing albums, and spitting out the occasional solo album. With enough time passing since his last major band, it seems as if Andrews is ready to create one more messiah of a project, under the name of Year of the Rabbit. Instead of bombarding the current musical climate with a standard full release, Year of the Rabbit opted to release a four track EP simply titled Year of the Rabbit. While the four-song disc lasts a mere 15 minutes and change, the band has full intentions of releasing a full-length debut album in the coming months.

Emerging from the ruins of what Failure had abruptly left behind, Year of the Rabbit continues on with somewhat of the same sound but more of an ambient influence. Instead of the guitar-riff oriented songs of Andrew's past, Year of the Rabbit head into darker territory with extremely over-produced and multi-layered sounds, gorgeously intertwined with Andrews depressing childlike vocals. Like all of the previous projects before Rabbit, Andrews has overproduced this album as much as he possibly could.

Overproduction is not uncommon as of late, due to the recent emergence of bands who use production tactics to hide true talent, but in this situation the production is hiding nothing. At times the listener can pick out at least five different guitar tones and effects going on at the same time, all molded over a lunar landscape of endless sound.

Year of the Rabbit

Year of the Rabbit
Self-Titled
Elektra/Asylum
2003



The first song from the offering, titled "Haunted," could very easily be the best track of the disc. Due to the nature of the lyrics and the eeriness of the music, "Haunted" is 100% depressing in every way a sad song should be, yet at the same time inspiring and somewhat hopeful. "All will be forgotten now. All will fade away. All will change into a dream that no one ever dreams," the chorus repeats constantly throughout the song over a mixture of echoed acoustics and spacey guitar riffs. The song is reminiscent of every hit song that is gracing the radio stations as of late, but is a step above the competition in every way.

From beginning to end, everything about this EP amazes me. The lyrics are top notch and Andrews' voice seems to have gotten even better since his time spent fronting Failure. Everything about the music is solid and amazing. Not extremely groundbreaking, but talented enough to turn quite a few heads, the EP gives a nice taste of what is set to come in the future.

If the new full-length album is half as good as this release, I would not be surprised to see this band surpass Failure's cult following, and finally make Ken Andrews a household name. With constant touring and the right ears listening, Year of the Rabbit just might be the next band to make the music industry rear its ugly head in the band's direction, and they could quite possibly find themselves the leader of the current pretentious indie-rock scene.

yearoftherabbit.net
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