The guys from German label Pure Steel Records turn out to be a real diverse lot, because not only have they in recent times been releasing a shitload of new albums and re-issued hidden treasures from the past, but now they're also promoting bands who have released their albums on their own. Not just bands from their own neighborhood either, because KB39 hail from Moscow, Russia!
In 2009 (lead) singer Tengiz (also lyricist and music writer), guitarist Oleg, and keyboardist Dima (also arrangements and sound engineer) got together, wrote a number of songs with a focus on Classic Rock, and started rehearsing them. In 2010 they invited bassist Sergey (later replaced by Pasha) and drummer Lyosha to complete the band, and started playing Moscow's bars and clubs (with a culmination of participating to two local festivals in June and September). In the last two years, the band worked on the recordings of their 12-track debut album...which we now have before us!
The songs' lyrics are focused on personal and social concerns, and brought in the English language. Of course, the band having Russian as mother tongue makes for some accent in the vocals, but actually that (along with a slight nasality) sets the band apart and gives it a warm and unique flair quite their own. Stylistically, the music has strong Classic Rock overtones, but the guys bring in elements from different genres, and make things interesting by combining the opposites, bringing both calmer and faster songs (or alternating pace within the one song), songs which are either loud or rather quiet (or, again...a combination of that within one song), driven by either melodic or heavy guitar (and, in the latter occasions, the guitar may completely drown out whatever keyboards are present). Quite diverse music overall, from song to song! You can listen to 4 of the 12 tracks in the “Music” section at the band's own (www.) kb36rockband.com, and personally I feel it's a pity that the album's opening track “Free” was not included. I mean, the lyrical topic's about an at birth malformed boy (missing legs) and his disappointments in life (being abandoned by his parents to an orphanage, where visitors looking for a child to adopt of course prefer the “normal” kids), and his fleeing from reality in a dreamworld (how one day he will be freed from his handicap and simply fly away)...great track that, and a lyrical topic one doesn't come across that often, too! In fact, in combination with some other songs on the album, I at first though having to do with a concept album...somehow some of the topics seemed to connect, see?