Kid Congo Powers - "Some Kind of Kick : A Memoir" Book

 Kid Congo Powers - "Some New Kind of Kick : A Memoir" review by Rob H.

This was another book where I wasn't overly aware of the persons life and career but knew enough to want to find out more and that it would most likely be an interesting life to hear about.

Kid Congo Powers formed the Gun Club, a band he would return to throughout his career, he played guitar in The Cramps before joining Nick Cave in The Bad Seeds then on to The Fur Bible, Congo Norvell and Kid Congo and The Pink Monkey Birds. Most of those bands I have very little awareness of, even The Gun Club I know more by reputation and for having Patrica Morrison as their bassist prior to her joining The Sisterhood and then The Sisters of Mercy.

What mainly drew me to this book was the Cramps and Nick Cave and both periods are interesting although not covered in depth but more with feeling. I would have liked more on the Cramps although his tenre was relatively short and coincided with a period that they were at loggerheads with their record label but does reveal that the famed live album "Smell of Female" was recorded and released quickly to combat the amount of bootleg shows being released.

The Nick Cave years feature a lot of drug addiction in the band and with Powers himself and his addiction is featured throughout the book. He was either a very high functioning addict or he doesn't really delve into some of the negative parts of addiction although getting clean at various stages in his life including when he was in the Bad Seeds surrounded by drug use.

There's a lot of interest in his early life like forming the Ramones fan club and meeting a lot of bands in that early American punk scene as well as dealing with his sexuality and personal loss.

You may not know all the bands in the book but as a memoir of a person it is always engaging and is worth exploring!