Knola is a four piece band from the Mid Western United States. The Black Beach is their debut EP released on a single sided 12” with an etching on the b-side by Skeletal Lightning. The Knola Collective features members of William Bonney, Midwest Pen Pals, The Exploration and Xerxes. Knola play a melancholy blend of indie rock and midwestern emo and the EP was recorded and mixed by Will Allard of Xerxes. It took me a moment to get used to Jack’s voice, initially it was a little high but after listening to the EP 10+ times now I wouldnt change a thing about this album in terms of the instrumentation or performance.
Lyrically speaking this album seems focused on repetition, ending back where one started. Dust uses one of my favourite poetic device: it starts in what seems like the middle of a sentence “Speaking of the things I lost somewhere, I haven't wrote a song in years” and goes on to examine memories and wasted time before closing out with the same line it started with. The whole album starts and ends with a similar phrase, “Follow a trail of kicked up sand, that ends at the water and starts at the van”. Here’s where I would normally list my favourite songs but this whole EP is really good. They are currently writing their LP and I look forward to more of this excellent music.
