Ten Kens - 'Ten Kens' (FatCat) Released 15/09/08

The name Ken conjures up many images, a predominant being Barbie’s ex beau. Ten Kens share a key factor with the plastic swain in the fact that you’re unsure whether you can be arsed with them simply due to lack of inspiration. You could dress Ken up in Barbie’s clothes but ultimately he is still Ken, just like you can dress Ten Kens up with words like ‘lyrically oblique’.
 
Dan Workman’s vocal delivery will either have you shouting “ Diction!” like Professor Henry Higgins or have you making up your own lyrics in your head. Either way there’s a fine line between being clever and being annoying.  While lyrics aren’t the be all and end all, it would be a relief if some of the clearness of the harmonies made it over to the main vocal.
 
The Canadian trio may achieve some very interesting sounds during this 11 track outing but the album doesn’t seem to have a real sense of what it’s trying to achieve. West coast psychedelia tinged with some very powerful wall of sound guitar work if you really wanted to label it. Reverb laden emotional stuff that’s as demanding and confusing as a newly housetrained puppy.
 
‘Spanish Fly’ is a likeable little number and perhaps one of the highlights but even this lacks the true essence of an earworm. You know that type of single that just won’t get out of your head.
 
None of this debut album has the instant appeal of a so called hit record. It won’t be a case of one listen on the radio and you’re hunting out the CD on the back annals of the internet. It won’t even be a case of several listens and you’re humming it on the bus. It’s a case of twelve listens in and while the musicianship is all very impressive there’s just something about it that keeps you from totally liking or disliking it.
 
It’s like going to a posh restaurant and finding out they’ve ponced up the mash potato. You know what you have in front of you, you can appreciate the effort and thought that has gone into it but it doesn’t really hit the spot.
 
It would be great to how  the intention behind ‘Ten Kens’ translates into a live set because although the production by Colin Stewart (Black Mountain, Pretty Girls Makes Graves) allows for a huge sense of dramatic energy  you’re still left thinking that there must be something more engaging about it all.