OK, this is definitely an interesting album. The band is KKB and the album title is Got To Get Back. It’s been released by noted guitarist Bruce Kulick, but looking at the photos there are three young kids with dated 70s clothing and hairstyles (the bass player even has a bushy mustache, for cryin’ out loud). Where’s Kulick? Wait a minute—at closer inspection, the kid with the big afro bears a striking resemblance to — I’ll be damned! That profile is unmistakable, even 40 years later.
So let’s cut to the chase: If one of the “K’s” in KKB didn’t stand for Kulick (as in former KISS and present Grand Funk Railroad guitarist Bruce Kulick), this album most likely would have never seen the light of day. With the exception of one new song, the six other songs were recorded in 1974, and they are clearly dated. The music is prog flavored rock reminiscent of mid-70s Rush. Even the format of KKB is similar to Rush, with this power trio fronted by bass player and vocalist Mike Katz. Drummer Guy Bois rounds out the band.
“Got To Get Back” is the new song, and it does give Kulick a chance to show off his chops, particularly in his tasty use of the wah-wah pedal. More straight ahead rock and less experimental than the vintage tunes, with modern recording techniques and fully realized sound (particularly guitar effects and the vocal overdubs), this track is the best of the bunch.
“I’ll Never Take You Back” could be mistaken for a long-lost Rush outtake, complete with complex time signature shifts, jazzy chording and breaks for guitar, bass and drum solos. “My Baby” takes prog in a different direction, venturing into Yes territory with ethereal lyrics, spacey melodies and meandering guitar and bass solos.
“Someday” is a ballad that’s so sappy and over-the-top melodramatic it almost comes across as a parody of a love-gone-wrong song, which proves that some recordings are better left in the archives. “Trying to Find a Way” climbs back aboard the Rush train. This one definitely challenges the listener’s patience with a long instrumental bridge and lyrics such as “to be a different kind, you’ve got to lose your mind.”
“You Won’t Be There” and “You’ve Got a Hold on Me” are more technically complex songs that are again time capsules of 70s prog rock. Got To Get Back is a curiosity piece, a history lesson in the evolution of a highly skilled, successful musician. It might be of interest to hardcore fans of Kulick, but the casual listener will likely find it as dated as the photos on the cover.
~ Richard Rosenthal
