Straddling the astral planes between Radiohead, Talk Talk and Green-era REM, Kettle of Kites are a sci-fi inspired rock band currently based in Italy. Following their 2015 debut, the band return with an expanded line up and a new vision for the band’s future with their follow up Arrows. The album illustrates the vividly visionary worlds and endlessly imaginative idiosyncrasies of acclaimed Science Fiction author Isaac Asimov...

I have to be honest and admit that if the press information hadn't laid out the fact that each track on Kettle of Kites's latest album, Arrows, was inspired by the works of Isaac Asimov I wouldn't have noticed... and even armed with that knowledge I found it hard to find any tangible link. A cynical reviewer would suspect that it is nothing but a cheap marketing tool to give an otherwise unremarkable indie rock album a little more credibility and draw in a wider audience.

In truth the album's not that bad, a little Crowded House mixed with Radiohead, but then that's a sound I enjoyed in the '90s and haven't been able to stomach revisiting since, in much the same way as I feel about drinking cider, which was something I did in the '90s as a student, but can't stand now... even if I still have fond memories.

There might be some fun to be had trying to figure out the Asimov inspiration on each track, if you're that way inclined. I found it to be a rather average retro sounding indie rock album.

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Nick Smithson