WHAT'S COOKIN'?

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