Kula Shaker: I’m Against It Single Review

On December 23, I woke up to a good day up ahead. My siblings were coming home that evening, I didn’t have to work Christmas or Christmas Eve, and the disaster that was 2020 was finally clearing the horizon.

I turned off my alarm and picked up my phone, quickly checking my notifications. As I routinely swiped to remove the Twitter banners, I read “Kula Shaker” and immediately clicked on it. A new song and a video?! The day was getting even better.

As the video loaded, a thought briefly passed my mind making me afraid to move ahead: what if I hate it? As my first experience witnessing the release of a new Kula Shaker album, I wondered if I would become one of those fans who say that Kula Shaker isn’t as good as they used to be.

When the video finished loading, I read the title: “I’m Against It.” The song begins with a strong guitar lick from frontman Crispian Mills, along with the lyrics, “Whatever it is, I’m against it.” I almost wanted to laugh; it was as if they had read my mind.

I can’t say that my opinion of the song is completely positive, but it’s not a bad song either. And with the lyrics of the song, it only makes me even more weary of the criticisms I might bring to the table and how I word it.

I love the guitar and the lyrics, they are both catchy and I couldn’t expect anything less from Mills. It is specifically relevant to our day and age, both politically and socially, and the instrumental break offer the best bits of the song.

This is because the songs lacks a bridge; this is my main complaint towards the song. It says a bit through the guitars and drums, but it lacks in substance as a whole. You remember the song easily because it is catchy and is accompanied by a strange video, but I can’t remember anything besides the chorus because there’s no climax that makes it memorable in my mind amongst so many other great Kula Shaker tunes.

Again, I don’t want to come off as the song suggests: “Kula Shaker was only good in the 90s and now everything else they release is terrible.” But while the song is good as a jam session, songs like “Hollow Man Pt. 1,” “Last Farewell,” and “Mountain Lifter” have so much more to say lyrically, and their dynamic progressions make them some of them greatest songs in the band’s discography. “Winter’s Call” served its purpose as a mostly instrumental track on the Pilgrims Progress album, but it told a story and reflected on the original meaning of the song (death).

The closest song I can compare to “I’m Against It” is “Second Sight” from the band’s comeback album, Strangefolk. Neither song is dynamically or lyrically varied and both act more as a catchy, fun tune rather than a central tune to the album. What “I’m Against It” lacks is an image that is reflected in the music. “Second Sight” is distorted and mystical, but “I’m Against It” has no such image. There is no fault in the lyrics, the music, or the idea of the song by itself, but rather the absence of either a climax or visual image that gives the song stronger roots to dig itself into as a memorable track.

Regardless, the song has grown on me with each new listen. I imagine, coupled with other tracks on the next album, it will become even more of a novelty. And be out the best song from the album or not, I think we can all take a moment to appreciate the Christmas gift the band offered us at the end of a very difficult year.

Rating: 3.5/5