Item! A veritable Who's Who of show-goers was on hand at the Crocodile last Friday to watch shoegazing, spacerocking, psychedelic train driving monsters Kinski as they plowed through yet another mind-blowing set of all those songs that we only know as "The one that goes, 'do-do-do -do-do-do -DUN-DUN-DUN-do.'" And they were certainly up to the challenge (and beyond), toting along Kawabato Makoto, guitarist etc. for legendary Japanese experimental noise metal band Acid Mother's Temple, who reminded us all that Kinski doesn't have to be in key to sound good, it's just an added bonus. And was that a Climax Golden Twin I saw hiding behind the red curtain, plucking away at a keyboardesque device? Line forms stage left, eager legends.

Item! Word on the street is that Kinski recently inked a deal with a very major independent label, which comes as no surprise to THIS reviewer, who has been calling the heads of all those would-be-labels telling them that Kinski is THE BAND OF THE FUTURE. And Friday night they laid down for us some of the new sounds we can expect from their MAJOR INDEPENDENT LABEL DEBUT. And let's just say they put a little of the RAW back in RAWK, shall we? Like the old songs, the new songs have explosions of guitars and drums and basses and things, but unlike the old songs, there are no longer any names. This concerns me, and I sincerely hope that one of those flunkies over at the Label catches this before the record goes to press.

Would you listen to me? Rambling on and on — I've completely forgotten to talk about the show! Which, I have it on good authority, was incendiary! The unrivaled bassing of basser Lucy Atkinson kept the tempos temping until the break of 11:25, and as we "listeners" alternated between nodding our heads and tapping our feet, she continuously and effortlessly reminded us that there was a song playing all the while sonic technician/guitarists Chris Martin and Matthew Reid Schwartz did their special thing on the floor (and I think you know what I mean). Ms. Atkinson has been creating quite a bit of buzz around town with her combination of stunning good looks and love of boy music (and she can COUNT, too!). And how about new drummer Barrett Wilke? It seems he keeps time much the same as Lucy, which earns him an A+ in my little black book of good musicians.

What more is there to say about this consistently untouchable freight train of sound? I will tell you what: lighting. Red lighting. Kinski sounds fab in red, and I hope they continue. In the meantime let's hope that fancy label gets them some roadies so we don't have to wait for the poor fellas to retune their guitars between every song (that's sooo jazz).