The REVERB Festival Class of 2009

Kay Kay & His Weathered Underground
At first, the hype surrounding Kay Kay & His Weathered Underground mystified me. I vastly preferred (name's) other project, Wild Orchid Children, to Kay Kay, which used to seem to me like some hackneyed Beatles rip-off. And Lord knows there are enough hackneyed Beatles rip-off bands out there to last us a lifetime. At the behest of a respected fellow music writer, though, I recently gave the band another go and found that the songs had more to commend them than a passing similarity to the aforementioned, Jesus-eclipsing pop icons. Kay Kay & His Weathered Underground make harmonic, lush pop songs that are like miniature symphonies, with several individual, distinct movements packed into three or four minutes. Touche, Jonathan Zwickel. Touche. Sunset Tavern, 12:30 a.m. Note by SARA BRICKNER