an angry son who has done his swallowing

Kukim - The U92 Morgantown Sound radio show (1994)

Some bands matter more than others and some seem to not matter at all. Lincoln, who’s members went on to form Kukim, left a lineage of two 7”s and a split with Dischord-approved Hoover that secured their place in record collections and minds. Kukim, however, didn’t release a thing, and all that is left of this amazing band is a live radio set they performed in 1994 on U92 Morgantown Sound. Kukim’s legacy is 8 songs in 33 minutes.That’s it. There’s something about a band being captured in time only once that resonates with me. It reminds me of when I was 13/14 and thought it was essential to collect OG presses of the records I liked. Inextricably bound to my appreciaton of emo (and music in general, actually) has always been the idea of a moment captured. Its the same train of thought that argues watching bands live is superior to listening to them on record. Kukim’s live set strikes the same paradox Indian Summers later set for Blue Universe radio in 1999 does: despite missing the real life moments this band had to offer, I can almost transcend the barrier of ‘recorded music’ and listen to something that, played live 17 years ago, sounded exactly like it does to me today. It’s moot point. Nowadays I don’t feel the same urge to condemn recorded work as any less legitimate than live performance. Still, something about this resonates with me. For my money, it is one of the most essential 90s emo recordings about.

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