WHAT'S COOKIN'?

"What's Cookin'?" was launched in March 2024 as the second ep of an Ontario-based duo SPACE KITCHEN. They have already released their debut eponymous ep last year, where we can hear lovely catchy approaches tinged with progressive essence. Their latest stuff sounds more of a smart pop than the previous one. Pretty appropriate for us to get more active and more delightful.

"Lovin' 9 To 5" consists of cool tight beats created by strict rhythmic kicks and dramatic guitar flows. Slightly complicated vibes can be easily accepted. Reminds me of the similar vein to YMO in the 'Naughty' era. "Believer Deceiver" is another power rock. Speedy percussive punches pump us up. Yes, a clearly vivacious atmosphere is good, and simple pop / rock launchers are not bad either. In "Life At Sea" more dramatic movements can be enjoyed. There is no lunacy nor burden around their creation as well. Happiness is a warm gem ... guess we could feel so.

Yes, not bad as a pop ep. Recommended if you are depressed at a hard time. You will get fine.

This prog pop duo from Ontario scores points with me for their wink to underexposure and critical thinking on their bandcamp page: "See why critics are calling this Space Kitchen's second EP". I enjoyed their first EP, in particular the smart melodic numbers, and little has changed on "What's Cookin'". Again, it's a mixed bag, with the tracks that straddle the crossover divider being most enjoyable. The clean guitar lines and pop savvy harmony vocals of "Lovin' 9 to 5" and "Life at Sea" are the picks for me, "Believer Deceiver" and "My Love to You" being not catchy enough and too catchy respectively. I'd like to see what SPACE KITCHEN could serve up in terms of a full course album, even if it means waiting a little longer.

The musical duo of Rob Howell and Robbie Carvalho, SPACE KITCHEN hit the scene in 2023 with its self-titled debut and delivered something not too many bands are interested in diving into in the modern age, namely a strange mix of 80s power pop and crossover prog sounds that emulate the oft hated sounds of 80s pop hit Genesis and other prog bands that went into the world of new wave and synthpop such as Rush, The Moody Blues (80s), The Alan Parsons Project etc.

On their latest EP WHAT'S COOKIN'? this duo from Kitchener, Ontario (hence the band name) dishes out some cosmic cuisine including Oort belt omelettes, galactic goulash, extraterrestrial egg salad and Saturnian sausages in the form of five tracks that are a true throwback to the 1980s synthesizer days when catchy melodic hooks were the name of the game. Given that this is a duo the EP features a full band sound with Carvalho handling bass, vocals, drums, guitars and keyboards and Howell handling more keys, vocals and bass.

Honestly i don't get where the so-called prog is supposed to be in this one. Sure the opening "Lovin' 9 To 5" features keyboards that emulate Genesis' "Abacab" but i think it's fair to say that at that point Genesis wasn't even close to prog any longer. Despite the 80s sounds the pop songs are more constructed like 1990s Weezer along with the clunky vocals that often strain to hit the right notes. The two-part "Believer Deceiver" features a trippy into but then becomes a piano rock party anthem with keys resembling Bruce Hornsby and the Range only with a indie rock vocal style.

"Life At Sea" is probably the most interesting track (as far as pop hooks go) as it features the strongest hooks and varying vocal effects and sounds the least cheesy of the lot. It has the most dynamic changes and even has a decent keyboard solo. I wish the rest of the songs were more like this one. "My Love To You" is a short little doo-woppy throwback to the 50s and for some reason reminds me of Elvis Costello trying to croon in a malt shop on the TV series "Happy Days!" Whatever. Overall this is a listenable album but just barely. It's rather inventive and totally wastes the opportunities to craft songs about eggbeaters and toasters in space! LOL