The Kettle Zone are moving quickly and deliberately, and “Iff and Only If” is their third single in under a year. The Edinburgh-based project, built around the songwriting of vocalist, guitarist, and keyboard player Allan Knox, continues to carve out a distinct space in the power pop landscape with another hooky, up-tempo track featuring Richie Werner on drums, who also mixed and mastered the recording.
The singles have each brought slightly different collaborators into the fold. Debut “Every Other Summer’s Day” featured Werner at Edinburgh’s B & B Studios. Follow-up “Little by Little” brought in Derek Smith on bass, Andrew Scott on drums, and additional guitars from Jack Davenport, recorded at The Owl Shed Studios. “Iff and Only If” returns to Werner as the central collaborator, keeping the project fluid and the sound consistent.
The influences anchoring The Kettle Zone are XTC, Squeeze, and Jellyfish, a lineage that says everything you need to know about where Knox’s songwriting instincts come from. More singles are planned for 2026, and for anyone who still believes guitar-driven power pop is one of the great undervalued genres, The Kettle Zone are worth watching closely.