Kevin Bronson on February 23rd, 2011

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Orange County five-piece Kiev straddles the abyss between the organic and electronic on its debut EP “Ain’t No Scary Folks In On Around Here,” with intriguing results. They lay out some heavy, funky riddims, weave in some electro beats and atmospherics and punctuate it all with blasts of saxophone from Andy Stavas, one of two keyboardists the quintet wields. Radiohead meets Phish? Maybe. But Stavas and bandmates Robert Brinkerhoff, Alex Wright, Derek Poulsen and Brandon Corn earn points for experimentation, at the very least. There’s no denying the groove in “Loot Recovered.”

||| Stream: “Loot Recovered”

||| Live: Kiev winds up a February residency this Sunday night at Bardot. The band also performs a free show as part of the OC Music Awards on Friday night at the Galaxy Concert Theatre, along with the Steelwells, Railroad to Alaska and Blok.

Photo by Tony Corella