Fans of all things twee, fey, and cute: get out those pixie stix and rejoice! Athens, GA-based Kindercore Records is back! Now hold on, you Thurston acolytes & No Fun Fest-ers, don't tune out yet; Kindercore isn't much different from the obscure labels you love today. It too (occasionally) releases ‘albums’ on cassette, just like some of your most beloved limited-edition-friendly labels. Plus, its roster's musical style (mostly fun, bouncy, smart-but-saccharine pop tunes with a fair amount of Brit-inva love) is... well... something most underground music fans can only handle in small doses. On second thought, Kindercore is probably the exact opposite of everything your scratchy, distorted heart holds dear -- no way around it.
During the label's initial run (1996-2003), Kindercore was, at times, ahead of the curve. Kindercore fostered Of Montreal when they were using more guitars than keyboards, and Norway was just a twinkle in Kevin Barnes' eye. They put out the best Essex Green records before Merge jumped on their bandwagon, and I Am The World Trade Center's name was one of the first things to offend overly sensitive “patriots” in the days following September 11, 2001.
After some bad business dealings in its last few years, the label was forced to shutter (against founders Ryan Lewis & Daniel Geller's wishes) by its financial backers. Lewis & Geller only recently were awarded legal rights to the Kindercore name and musical catalog, and decided to bring KR back from the dead. The label plans to sell its catalog on iTunes, while putting out new releases from local groups King of Prussia, Ruby Isle, and USSR. It hopes to provide other kinds of entertainment and info, too, with future plans to release comics (an anthology, The Trouble Revolution, has already been announced) and feature videos, contributions from writers, t-shirt designers, and other surprises on its website. If all that doesn't put a smile on your face, then you probably stopped reading a long time ago.
