In Remembrance: Kind Of Like Spitting
Spitting and sputtering until the bitter end.
There are some bands we consider hardworking, like the band that can consistently release an album a year. When you think about that it’s really pretty impressive. Now think about that in comparison to Kind Of Like Spitting, who, due to the hard work of Ben Barnett, the driving force behind the band, in 2000, released an astounding three albums within 12 months.
Originating from Portland, Oregon in 1996, the band was comprised of singer/songwriter Ben Barnett and a backing band that usually consisted of guitarist David J. However, despite putting out an impressive number of decent albums in a relatively short amount of time, it looks as though this band will soon pass into obscurity, which I quite frankly can’t stand to let happen.
The band started relatively slow, putting out a few demos and appearing on several splits during their first few years. Then, in 2000, as previously mentioned, the group put out an impressive three albums, You Secretly Want Me Dead, Nothing Makes Sense Without It, and Old Moon in the Arms of the New. The records were released on different labels because a single contract had not yet been solidified, although Hush Records would later regularly put out the band’s new material. All three albums scored average among critics; however, it was Nothing Makes Sense Without It that featured some of the bands most popular songs, such as “Shaggy Dog Shames Its Owner,” “Birds of a Feather,” and “Blue Period.”
After the release of these albums, the group toured for a few months before disbanding, allowing Ben Barnett to work alone while writing new material. This became fairly common occurrence; the group separating after touring and leaving most of the work in Ben’s capable hands. In 2002, One Hundred Dollar Room and Bridges Worth Burning were released. Bridges Worth Burning received positive reviews from critics and featured guest performances by members of Death Cab For Cutie. “We Are Both Writers” being a particularly good song from the album.
In 2005, Kind Of Like Spitting released an album of covers, Learn: The Songs of Phil Ochs. Protest signer Phil Ochs wrote all songs on the album and the album includes Ben’s commentary on each song included on the album. Learn: The Songs of Phil Ochs scored well among critics. Yet again, it was released on Hush Records. Later that year, the group also released an album named In The Red.
The Thrill of the Hunt, the last studio album released by Kind of Like Spitting, was released in early 2006. By this point in the band’s career, Ben had started to let fellow member, David J, become more involved in the writing process of the albums, a responsibility which had once been left only to Ben himself; subsequently, the title track of The Thrill of the Hunt was written and recorded solo by David.
Kind of Like Spitting announced their break-up in 2006 for personal reasons. Since then David has been working on his solo project called Novi Split and Ben, David J and Sean Bonnette of Andrew Jackson Jihad have started working on a project in 2008 called Fun With Friends.
Posted by Andrew Scott on Dec 28, 2009 @ 9:00 am