(Music) Headlights: "Kill Them With Kindness"

You know that part in an album, any album, where about halfway through you begin to tire of the music you are listening to? I'm not saying that the music is necessarily bad, or even that you are bored with the album, but inevitably, every album has a moment in which the music seems to dwell quietly in the back of your mind. You lose focus. You momentarily tune it out, only to come back to it later. Essentially, you are not paying as much attention to the album as you were when you first listened to it. You know that part?

Forget about it!

That's pretty much what Headlights is saying with their debut album "Kill Them With Kindness." What begins as a nice, overwhelmingly lush, atmospheric, indie pop-rock album suddenly transforms itself into a sunny-pop album along the lines of Rooney or The Most Serene Republic. Though you might question whether or not the song "Lions" is the same band that's playing the song "Pity City," ultimately Headlights maintains a pretty solid sound throughout the album, satifying any doubts you may or may not have.

At first listen, I was a bit unconvinced. Headlights didn't sound as if it differentiated itself from the current overflow of indie rock out there, but I gave it another listen, which soon turned into listen after listen after listen. Quite simply, I can't stop. The songs on this album range from the beautiful ("Songy Darko") to the fun ("Hi-Ya!") and, more often than not, somewhere in between these two sentiments ("Owl Eyes"). In every aspect of the phrase, "Kill Them With Kindness" is a blast!

I recently read another review on this album from a pretty respected website that reviewed the album fairly poorly, based largely on the album's diversity and purported "lack of focus." I disagree entirely. Diverse, sure, but Headlights maintains its focus throughout the album, never sounding like they can't decide what kind of music they want to play. This isn't Fountains of Wayne's "Welcome Interstate Managers," arguably the most unfocused album of all time with country, punk, rock, and pop all on one album (which the aformentioned website gave a higher rating than "KTWK," by the way). No, Headlights has managed to craft a delicious little indie-rock gem. "Kill Them With Kindness" is one of the most refreshing albums to come out in 2006, and one of the freshest debuts of recent memory. Keep an eye out for these guys.

Recommended for fans of Rooney, The Most Serene Republic, Rogue Wave, Rilo Kiley, and anyone who is interested in hearing one of the best indie-rock albums of the year.

Key Tracks:
1. "Put Us Back Together Right"
2. "Songy Darko"
3. "Owl Eyes"
4. " Lions"
5. "Hi-Ya!"

4 out of 5 Stars