Chad Kichula: Killer
In 2008, Chad Kichula released the single, “Never Seen the Ocean.” The single did well, climbing to number 15 on the Hot Adult Contemporary charts in Canada. With that, it seemed like Kichula’s career was off and running. In the three years since then, Kichula has released a handful of EPs and the 2009 full-length, Runners in the Night. Now in 2011, Kichula is self-releasing his latest effort, Killer.
It seems to me to be a little unfair to label Chad Kichula as adult contemporary. Adult contemporary comes with stigmas; as if all adult contemporary artists sound like Train or Five For Fighting. The truth is Kichula is more a combination of Johnny Cash brand of country and Dire Straits-esque classic rock.
The album contains tracks like “Miner Road.” The track is an acoustic country ballad backed with a lush string arrangement. On the otherhand, “Bar Fly” has a psuedo-ska vibe that reminds me of Dire Straits “Walk of Life.” The album seems to bounce consistently between these two genres.
Unfortunately, neither genre really strikes me as working. I have to admit that the psuedo-ska songs are at least fun but they have a kind of goofy feel to them that stand in such stark contrast to Kichula’s country songs that it just feels awkward. Meanwhile the country songs can veer into the dreaded Nickelback sounding territory.
Rating: 4.7/10
MP3: Chad Kichula “Bar Fly”
Buy: iTunes or Amazon
Chad Kichula: Killer
