Indie rock band koriakittenriot is the solo project of Antti Reikko, who has previously played guitar in Finnish indie rock band Johnny Superhero. He has been recording his debut solo album on a shoe-string budget, and all songs are written and performed by Reikko. He plays guitar, acoustic and electric guitars, mandolin, piano, synthesizer, harmonica and glockenspiel. He also produces and performs some of the vocal tracks, and he has a friend, Eino Anttila, who mixed the album after listening to demos on MySpace.
KKR’s latest album, ‘Songs of Hope and Science’, has an uplifting feel to it that reflects the positive outlook of a new year. In a world that is in so much turmoil and uncertainty, this album reminds us that the universe is not all bad, and that we have to believe in hope and not let our minds become depressed by negative thinking.
The album is a personal and honest piece of work, and Reikko regularly dissects and explains the character and feel of each song via the band’s Facebook page and is clearly interested in sharing his thoughts and emotions with their listeners.
Rich Men Poor Men Good Men is a very fine example of the kind of giddy instrument-stuffed indie-pop that was purveyed by bands like Annuals, Decemberists and Grandaddy in the mid-’00s. There are songs here that resemble early-day Bright Eyes, Death Cab for Cutie and even the indie-rock of a young Weezer, but it’s also a record that makes us smile and leaves us with a glint in our eyes.