Ani Kyd - Evil Needs Candy Too - CD Review By Christine Albrecht

Evil Needs Candy Too is Ani Kyd’s first full length cd, although she is hardly new to the music scene having fronted numerous bands, including Rumblefish, Spanking Machine, Spankin' Betty, Kyd Monopoli, and Fuel-Injected 45, as well as doing solo shows and playing guitar for Canadian Rock legend, Thor.

Evil Needs candy Too has Ani’s personal stamp all over it. An eclectic choice of songs with an equally odd assortment of instruments: hard thrashing guitars, wicked drums, violins and cello which perfectly complement Ani’s vocals in a variety of bi-polar personas. It comprises of 16 tunes that range from thrash rock, punk, and soft ‘melodic’ tunes (but don’t let that sweet voice fool you) intertwined throughout.

As I’ve stated before, I will not shell out the money for a cd unless there are at least 3 good songs present. In ENCT 5 songs stood out. The first, ‘Rejoyce’, is a good rocker tune with Ani’s singing reminiscent of Linda Perry. ‘Rejoyce’, ‘Left Holding the Bag’, ‘Erase’, ‘Stranger Things’, and my favourite, ‘Hard Way Home’ are reason enough to purchase this cd. ‘The Involuntary Admittance of Jack Kyd’ is also a bittersweet, yet humorous, insert at the end of the cd, taken from an answering machine message from Ani’s son, Michael Kyd. ‘My First Kill’ is also a finely crafted tune, hard driven, ala Dead Kennedys, but then it lulls you into a false sense of melodic calm, only to assault you again with vocal and instrumental intensity.

From the fast and furious opening seconds, the band's power and musicianship are immediately obvious, and, even to the untrained ear, drummer Gene Hoglan's playing stands out, especially on the songs ‘My First Kill’ and ‘Lost’. The band is tight with excellent guitar riffs (especially on ‘Thirteen’, and ‘Left Right Left’) The song ‘So Far’ has violins and excellent double bass (courtesy of Jan Berman). ‘Stranger Things’ (an acoustic version of Ani’s former release with Rumblefish) has a cello accompaniment to Ani’s vocals. Although the song is sung with apparent vulnerability, listen closely and there is a sinister edge to it.

All the songs’ lyrics appear personal and harsh; this is a survivor’s tale. It is an angry, non sugar-coated cd, and not for the faint of heart, or those looking for mainstream rock.

Produced by Jello Biafra (of the infamous Dead Kennedys) this is a solid full-length debut cd from Kyd, and no doubt other future releases will be in the works. This is the only non-Jello release that Jello Biafra has produced, so that is a statement in itself.

Purchase your copy of this cd at theAlternative Tentacles store


Ani Kyd’s band consists of:

Ani Kyd, vocals and guitar
Byron Stroud - Bass
Gene Hoglan - Drums
Ian White - guitar
Jan Berman - Double Bass on ‘So Far’

For a more in-depth article of Ani Kyd, go to the category Music Profiles at Swanktrendz Home