Press Quotes:


Performing Songwriter writes, "Unexpected crescendos, bizarre lyrical turns, mantra-like chants over the tinkling of a banjo; these are all moments of strange beauty to be heard in Kamikaze Hearts self-titled debut."

NYC's Village Voice writes, "This upstate New York quartet offers passion-fueled songs full of lush harmonies and edgy, gripping melodies. They share similarities with the great Vic Chestnutt and local favorites Clem Snide. And as far as their hearts go, they seem more intent on surviving than their name suggests..."

The Boston Herald writes, "The surprise hit at the (NEMO Festival) was Albany's Kamikaze Hearts, an alt-country outfit with gorgeous four-part harmonies and some brilliantly comedic tears-in-my-beer weepers."

Albany's Metroland magazine says, "As the Kamikaze Hearts, these soulful musicians brew acoustified rock & roll magic that blends sharp but offbeat songwriting, rootsy instrumentation and quirky harmonies...(They) have the potential to be big, and we mean that in a nine-point-review-on-Pitchfork, top-ranking-on-the-College Music Journal-charts sort of way... the Hearts also seem to easily attract new fans, including those who aren’t typically drawn to porch-sitting, mandolin-inflected indie rock. At a recent performance, the Hearts mesmerized everyone from punk rockers to metalheads with their addictive melodies, quirky four-part harmonies and the amazing way that they maintain such a loose, shambling vibe while somehow keeping it all perfectly together."

Northampton's Valley Advocate writes, "The Kamikaze Hearts nuzzle close to the indie rock school of Americana revivalism. This book-wormy foursome compose ailing country ballads and silly barnyard rave-ups with accompianament from such lovely stringed instruments as the mandolin, the banjo and the (acoustic bass). They charm effortlessly and, goddamn it they've got ruach (Hebrew for "spirit"). This is campfire music for kids with wire-rims and boxes of spent diaries hiding underneath their beds."

A recent live review states, "Headliners the Kamikaze Hearts are, in my estimation, the best band in Albany right now. They continue to add harmonic depth to their older country- and bluegrass-inflected songs. Their newer songs show a continued development of songcraft (and it should be noted that they started from a position of strength in that regard). The Hearts combine elements of a goodtime bluegrass blowout, Leonard Cohen-esque poetic gloom and a perfectionist’s ear for affecting literary detail." - John Rodat

"...seriously, put down that mediocre Wilco CD and pick this up." - wintermittens review.

"This is a beautiful record." - mysweater review.