· EAR CANDY - November 2003
 
Kevin K is a dead ringer for the late great Dead Boy Stiv Bators and ?Kiss of Death? sounds like Stiv during his Bomp years. The great thing about this record is Kevin K has as much love and respect for rock n’ roll as Bators did and it shines through on every track. "Ain’t It Fun? is exactly that with it’s Leader Of The Pack lyrics like "I met her at the pizzeria", "That sweet senorita", "I knew I had to meet her", "Extra cheese on her pizza". This sounds corny but he pulls it off and not only does he pull it off but you’ll be singing along with him after a couple of listens. ?Road To Ruin? is the coolest Ramones tribute I’ve ever heard and every punk band worth their salt should add it to their set list. I’ve been playing this for two days straight and I still love it. Even the cover of ?These Boots Are Made For Walking? sounds cool. ~J.R. Oliver

· I-94 Bar - January 2004
 
For this album, the ex-New York-now-Florida-based, globetrotting Mr K teams with a bunch of French players (he seems to be a bigger deal on the Continent and in Japan than in his homeland). No sign of Parisian Freddy Lynxx - France’s pre-eminent Thunders authority - and my fave K backing band remains the engine room from New York’s Sour Jazz, but these Frenchies sound (and look) the part.

While I’m over tunes like the opening "Kiss of Death" that compare smack to a femme fatale (and to be honest, the toy syringe keyrings Kevin sells via his website induce a cringe), props have to be grudgingly given after a few listens as the song is a grower. "Ain’t It Fun" isn’t the expected Dead Boys cover but a vaguely optimistic love song, replete with overt Ramones-style pizza parlour setting. Speaking of the Bruddas, the chugging "Road to Ruin" is an overt trib to NYC’s finest and its Burroghsian cut-up of some of their finest lyrics works a treat.

"Do You Wanna Kiss" recalls Kevin’s ‘90s stab at commercial success, the fab and (not overly) polished "Magic Touch", and his poppier moments in the Road Vultures, who came across as a trashy Beatles mutant. It’s criminal that the aforementioned "Magic Touch" went nowhere and it’s hoped that someone in some musical domain where AOR and high rotation program doesn’t rule the roost will give this tune a decent airing. We live in hope.

There’s more often than not a defining cover song on a Kevin K album to expose his influences and the selection here is a fine swinging take on "These Boots Are made for Walking". It teams Kevin with someone called Bea Superstar who contributes suitably Nancy Sinatra-like vocals and closes the album with some squawling Thunderesque guitar. Cool. ~The Barman

· NOW WAVE - November 2003
 
If Johnny Thunders and The Beatles had ever gotten together and made a record, it probably would have sounded an awful lot like the latest from Kevin K and the Real Kool Kats. Mr. K (ex New Toys/Lone Cowboys/Road Vultures) has been around forever and possesses the tenacity of a cockroach. He’s a true survivor and a hero to beat-down rock n’ roll romantics the world over. He’s pulled a Jerry Lewis and found adulation in France. He’s not young & good-looking, so don’t look for him on the cover of your favorite trendy rock magazine. But this mofo can play guitar and write a song better than any overhyped, flavor of the month pretty boy rockstar you care to name. Those of you who realize that the MUSIC is what really matters will want to put Kiss of Death near the top of your ""albums to buy" list. Kiss of Death is an album that grizzled punk oldsters & lovesick pop geeks alike will dig. It kicks off with a couple of trashy rock n’ roll gems in the classic Heartbreakers/Stones mold. Not a bad start, but the best is yet to come. With a couple of exceptions, the rest of the album is pure POP (and I mean that in a good way!). Really catchy choruses, well-crafted hooks, melodic guitar lines, tuneful chord changes, ?pretty? sounding vocals.....Essentially, this is power pop played like old school CBGB punk. Back alley guts with popstar heart. Ramones grit meets Raspberries melody. Fans of the Trash Brats, Beat Angels, Jeff Dahl, and Candy will be instantly hooked by perfect gutterpop gems like "Escape", "Ain‘t It Fun", and "My Girlfriend Not Anymore". God damn it, "L.O.V.E." is stuck in my head, and I can’t get it out! The "industry" isn’t "buzzing" about Kevin K and the Real Kool Kats? So what? Fuck the industry. Fuck the hype-driven, lame-ass shit it tries to sell you. If you wanna be hip, you can go buy the "hot" disc of the moment. If you wanna hear great pop songs, check out Kiss of Death. It hits the spot like ice-cold Coca-Cola or quickie sex over your lunch break. ~Lord Rutledge, opinionated asshole

· PUNK RAWK #14 - December 2003 (translated from German)
 
SPECIAL K
yAuthor of sumptuous Kiss Of Death, an album ideally proprtioned between classy punk-rock'n'roll (Ramones, Dead Boys) and rock'n'roll attitude (Johnny Thunders), Kevin K and the Real Kool Kats show that the rock'n'roll saves France-American relations...In 2003, the album Kiss Of Death is recorded with this Franco-American coalation. More poppy, the disc however does not suffer from the label "punk-rock'n'roll" so much it lets escape the influences outstanding from Kevin. Kiss Of Death tour (November/December) will have all ready taken place when you read these lines, but a second segment will proceed next March and April. You will not have a reason to miss it. Especially that, by then, Kevin K will certainly have recorded two or three albums. Crowned Kevin. ~ Frank Frejnik

· OX FANZINE #53 - December 2003 (translated from German)
 
For some 25 years Kevin is K already in things Punkrock on the way, with all the old heroes of the New Yorker Punkrocks together played and is since center of the nineties now with various Begleitbands on route. After its last releases under the name had appeared KEVIN K VOLUME, the Jeff Dahl of the east coast (function and music are nevertheless very similar itself) firmiert now on this plate as KEVIN K & THE MATERIAL KOOL KIDS, whereby behind MATERIAL the KOOL KIDS three French musicians hide themselves, with which Kevin K probably lately in Europe on route was. This kind to work of having thus different of volume in different countries reminds me again of Sonny Vincent, and applies also in musical regard. "Kiss OF Death", that is timeless Punkrock in best Johnny Thunders tradition, with Einsprengseln from Pop, Glam and Singer/Songwriter. ~ Joachim Hiller