Kants Appreciation Post

For whatever reason, I decided to put on This Book Is Deadly on the way back from the mall last week, and was reminded of how much I liked the Kants.

The Kants, on the couch at Rap-A-Lot Studios. If I had a bigger picture, I would use it.

Short version: Houston power trio, sounded a little like a hookier version of Unwound, toured a lot, played with Ted Leo a bunch of times.

Although the Kants weren’t around all that long- probably three or four years- they had three distinct periods, associated with the drummer that was in the band at the time:

1. Donna Huanca, who I think also used to go by Donna Magnetic because she had been in the Magnetic Four. Donna played a little like Sara Lund of Unwound, which I think was one source of the frequent comparisons between the two bands. The Kants self-released a CD-R with this lineup. A couple of samples:
Pure Reason
M.I.A.

2. Ronnie Barnard. Ronnie had a big, loud style, kind of like Dave Grohl. He was a lot of fun to watch. This lineup wasn’t around very long, because Ronnie had to quit when he got busy with school. However, they did manage to put out a really good 7″ split (with Handdriver, Ronnie’s other band) before he left.
Trac Taylor

The Handdriver side of this single is crazy rockin’. Certainly one of my favorite 7″ splits.

3. Mike McAloon. Mike was trained in jazz at the University of North Texas, but you’d never guess by watching him play- his playing is so simple, relaxed and loose that I used to think he was playing drunk until someone told me he didn’t drink at all. Mike is on This Book Is Deadly, which is the band’s last official release.
This Book Is Deadly
Luxx

I actually auditioned to replace Ronnie before Mike was in the band, which was a complete disaster.

At some point I came by mp3s of two songs the Kants recorded just before they broke up and never released- maybe I got Chris Ryan to give them to me?- which I herewith post on the interwebs for the enjoyment of all Kants fans, until such time as someone asks me to take them down:
Untitled 1
Untitled 2

I love the sleepy descending line that closes the second song; I remember hearing it at their last show and just dying. This band’s use of dissonance was masterful.

From 2002 to 2004 I probably saw the Kants as much as any local band (except for Groceries/ Bring Back the Guns, whom I’ve seen too many times to contemplate). Notes from a few memorable occasions:

- Kants, Lucky Motors, and Ted Leo upstairs at No Tsu Oh. I think this might have been a show that Matty and Mossy was supposed to play, but they had been in a terrible car accident in which their guitar player, Heath Flagtvedt, was seriously injured. Possibly the best Lucky Motors show I ever saw; they put Ted Leo to shame. This may have been the first time I saw the Kants.

- Kants, Hella, Xiu Xiu and maybe a couple of other bands at the Creative Autonomy Collective. This was the Houston version of the SXSW showcase for 5rc, a short-lived offshoot of Kill Rock Stars. I probably wouldn’t have been here if I hadn’t been drafted to haul the PA, since it was a KTRU-sponsored show. There were about 15 people there because Arab on Radar and Quintron were playing at Mary Jane’s. Seeing Hella from 2 feet away with a dozen other people was a truly mind-bending experience. Pretty sure Justin was at this show?

Also: remember when there was an anarchist commune on Washington Ave? Less than ten years ago?

- On the roof of No Tsu Oh with I think Mothra and some other bands. First time I saw the Kants play “Scissors,” which is one of my all-time favorite songs by a Houston band. It has this beautiful stair-step guitar line in the chorus that I spent forever trying to figure out how to play before I realized that Ted was playing in an alternate tuning through a delay pedal.
Scissors

When I was putting I Hate It Here, I Never Want To Leave together, this was the one song that I specifically wanted for the record, and I’m very grateful to the band for letting me include it.

- Calculus, the Kants, the Jonx and Woozyhelmet at Super Happy Fun Land. This might have been the first time I saw the Kants with Mike on drums. One of only a handful shows that Calculus (Beau and Simon from Coffin Grinder) ever played. It was Shawn’s birthday and he got cake all over the floor. Cops showed up during Woozyhelmet’s set, natch.

- The Jonx, the Kants, Lucky Motors at the Rhythm Room. This was the CD release party for I Hate It Here, I Never Want To Leave, and the inauguration of Matt Brownlie’s short-lived monthly Down With The Scene series. Last time Lucky Motors ever played, I think.

Looking back at these, I realize that the notable things about some of these shows didn’t necessarily had anything to do with the Kants. But the fact is that they were a part of a lot of memorable rock and roll experiences I had during this time, because they were really active in setting up shows, they were always interested in playing and always delivered strong performances with good vibes. Every time I saw them, they made the show better.

Along with Bring Back the Guns, the Kants are one of the bands that I think of whenever someone talks about how bands in Houston need to tour more. I remember guitarist Ted Conway telling me that on one tour they would have a great crowd in town X, and the next tour nobody. Despite being a creatively successful and hardworking band, they were never able to build on the successful shows that they had to create a career for themselves. Just being good and going on tour doesn’t get you much.

To go off on another tangent, around the same time IHIHINWTL came out, there was a comp out of Atlanta with a similar aesthetic called String Theory: A Theory of Everything. String Theory had a successor of sorts this year with We No Fun, a new compilation of arty punk bands from Atlanta, which I highly recommend (my brother is on it, twice!). So I guess it would be sort of logical to see another Houston comp at this point. I’ll be interested to see if one pops up.