All adventures must come to an end, and here we are at the end of Illinois’ The Adventures of Kid Catastrophe. The Philadelphia band took on a hell of a lot when they set out to release six EPs in six months, starting last November, not to mention East Coast mini-tours for each one, and while they eventually had to head out west for South-by-Southwest (QRO recap), the band was still able to put it all on record – culminating with the double-disc, twenty-track Deluxe Edition. And put all together, it’s even more impressive.
Click here for photos of Illinois’ 3rd EP release party at Fontana’s on January 14th, 2009 in the QRO Concert Photo Gallery
Click here for QRO’s review of Illinois as part of Central Park Summerstage on September 10th, 2008
Kid Catastrophe himself, Chris ‘Arch’ Archibald said the Deluxe Edition “had a ‘mix tape’ kind of vibe to it’ (QRO interview), and while that’s true, the Deluxe size makes it feel more like a compilation – or a greatest hits record. Illinois had shown that they could do everything from sad alt-folk to white-boy rap on the preceding What the Hell Do I Know? EP (QRO review), but while those seven tracks did feel like they veered all over the place, at twenty, Adventures is really just letting you get to know the various sides of the band.
Chapter One (QRO review) brings out the beat & electronic-oriented aspect of The Adventures, heralded by single “Hang On”. Chapter Two (QRO review) goes to the backwoods of Illinois, a lover, not a fighter with “She’s So Blonde”. After Deluxe-only mood-shifting interlude “Church”, the stage is well set for Chapter Three’s (QRO review) sadder, more melancholy fare, like “Are You Coming With Me?”.
In the back half, Illinois begin to mix things up. Chapter Four (QRO review) takes the sad fare and injects some energy, like with “Big Country”, but it is Chapter Five (QRO review) that sees them all on an equal plane, in the ‘boy loses girl’ department, like “She’s So Funny”. And the band wraps it all up on a high note with the best of the bunch, Chapter Six (QRO review), which includes not just the strong sum-up “Kid Catastrophe”, but also a welcome return from the past in “Old Saloon” (from 2005’s Revenge of Some Young Kid EP).
The Adventures of Kid Catastrophe is ‘deluxe’ in another way, as Archibald traveled to Los Angeles to work with the art collective People-Food, and starred in a series of short films to accompany each EP. Deluxe Edition has those and a few more, an interlude and a closer that lets you know the final fate of Kid Catastrophe & his fish, and they’re all compiled into a full piece in its own right:
Click here for photos of Illinois at CMJ 2007 in the QRO Concert Photo Gallery
Click here for QRO’s review of Illinois at McCarren Park Pool in Brooklyn, NY on July 1st, 2007
Illinois add on the slightly strange instrumental “Not Totally Gone” to the end of the Deluxe Edition, just in case you thought this was a swan song – like so many greatest hits collections. No, this is the greatest hits of a prolific and varied band that’ve got many (regular-sized) albums left to come.
MP3 Stream: "Hang On"
MP3 Stream: "She’s So Blonde"
MP3 Stream: "Are You Coming With Me?"
MP3 Stream: "Big Country"
MP3 Stream: "She’s So Funny"
MP3 Stream: "Kid Catastrophe"
