Kaki King - 'Dreaming of Revenge'

Arts and crafts are the gosh dang bomb diggity, and not just because of that whole “eating paste and crayons” thing. On her new record, Dreaming of Revenge, guitar virtuoso Kaki King not only serves up 11 tasty, mostly instrumental progressive indie pop tunes (12 if you’re rocking iTunes), she also provides a chance to make your very own “Dreaming of Revenge Mobile.” Based off of the weird symbols that hover over King as she sleeps on the album cover, record buyers and particularly hip kindergarteners can combine these cut-outs with a wire hanger for some truly boss artwork. Better still, King is hosting an art contest. The coolest mobile scores a prize of undetermined proportions.

Oh yeah, and the record comes with music, too.

Dreaming of Revenge continues the soft, ethereal turn King took on 2006’s …Until We Felt Red, although the occasional classic rock guitar tone creeps up here and there.

Also like on …Until We Felt Red, King sings on a few cuts on this great low key effort, and her gentle voice matches the compositions well. Her writing has gotten a lot tighter, allowing for some solid potential pop singles. “Life Being What It Is,” and “Pull Me Out Alive” in particular, have catchy choruses and infectious atmosphere. They’re not quite shoegaze or goth circa new wave, but they’ll certainly appeal to fans of both genres.

This tighter writing comes at a price, though, as King’s compositions, while fuller, are also less notably jaw-dropping than the frenetic percussive style she showed on first album Everybody Loves You. Moreover, she’s not that great of a lyricist. Not bad, just not life-changing. But, she occasionally returns to her old style on cuts like the string section-soaked “So Much For So Little” and album ender “2 O’Clock,” and really succeeds at synthesizing the two styles on opener “Bone Chaos in the Castle.”

King’s playing has gotten a lot more expressive lately, as heard on “Montreal.” A mournful aura hovers over Dreaming of Revenge, something her scarce lyrics hint at. That she would include “tears” among her impressive instrument list (guitars, drums, vocals, pedal steel, bass and synth) half-jokingly increases the vibe. But man is it a gorgeous kind of mobile-assisted sadness.