Album Review

Killa Kela – Amplified!

• 27th Sep 2009

A champion beatboxer seems an unusual source for this zeitgeisty indielectro album, but Amplified! sees Kela call in a few favours from a range of influential pals, take Does it Offend You, Yeah?’s James Rushent who helped out on ‘Built Like an Amplifier’, a winning start to the CD, replete with scuzzy production and a lethal bassline. It compensates with balls and gusto for what it lacks in originality and could enthral on dancefloors from Hoxton dives to high-street franchises countrywide.

What follows is more of the same, a loud and lairy foray of urban noise. Kela’s sound shows influences from drum n bass and grime, with a punky aggression at the core. He sings, raps, and of course beatboxes, and it’s testament to Kela’s ability at the latter that it’s always difficult to tell whether the manifold percussive sounds are coming from a drum machine or from his mouth.

Unfortunately Kela makes the mistake of peaking early by starting with ‘Built Like an Amplifier’, as the remainder of the album, though serviceable enough in its own right, never quite manages to outdo the jerky high of the opener. Nonetheless, Amplified! heralds the arrival of a unique new artist and won’t fail to win Kela a few admirers.