KING WASHINGTON – The Gears

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The GearsImagine what would happen if the fantastic harmony vocals of Crosby, Stills & Nash, America and their seventies ilk met with Dave Matthews Band and other like-minded jam-band revivalists of the 1990s… Surely the end result would be something special?  That’s kind of what King Washington sound like on their debut full-length release ‘The Gears’.  And while listeners will undoubtedly pick up on a myriad of influences while listening to this record, what’s perhaps most important is the level of musicianship and songcraft; on this twelve song DIY release, King Washington prove themselves as good as any rootsy outfit lucky enough to have major label backing and a huge recording budget at their disposal.  Simply put, ‘The Gears’ IS something special.

The journey starts gently, with the title cut opening with a simple guitar riff coupled with tight wordless harmony vocals. Before long, this then breaks into a strong arrangement where those harmony vocals really get a chance to take centre stage.  Aside from those harmonies, the clean-toned guitars offer some quite lovely, choppy rhythms, while the rhythm section is suitably tight.  ‘Fourth of July’ brings another strong sense of harmonies, once again; in addition, on this second number, King Washington indulges in a few tougher sounding traits. A quasi-aggressive intro allows more room for guitar work, offering a classic echo-driven sound.  The main bulk of the tune is dominated by strong melodies and a full arrangement offering some retro solos and tinkling harpsichord sounds.  These opening numbers certainly work well as a pair, since they show an almost complete range of King Washington’s abilities.

The slow ‘Rosewood Angel’ is the album’s finest tune, full of softly played lead guitar, which occasionally recalls 1970s southern rock.  Combined with another wall of harmonies, this track really shines; a great achievement indeed, especially considering it’s up against some pretty stiff competition.  The guitar work that sounded so appealing during the intro provides recurring musical enjoyment throughout, and while it’s not a tune with an obvious hook, repeated spins allow various musical layers to present something enjoyable with every subsequent listen.  The semi acoustic ‘Fancy’ comes with a slight Dave Matthewsy vibe, where the warmth of the bass pulls in the listener.  The soft music is accompanied by an equally restrained vocal, and while it doesn’t offer much that’s radically different from KW’s other tunes, it’s nicely arranged – a little simpler, perhaps – with the rhythm section taking the bulk of the work: it’s the sound of summer, captured in a three minute capsule.  For superb examples of the King Washington sound, both this track and ‘Rosewood Angel’ are highly recommended listens.

‘Cotton’ is much punchier than your average King Washington tune (not that any of them are average), with upfront drums and a marching beat.  At the heart of the piece, though, are KW’s tried and tested world of meticulous harmonies, ensuring most of harder edges don’t feel at all out of place.  It could be said that the discordant guitar solo pushes the musical envelope just a little too far, but the unsettling mood is brief.  While musically this track may not be as intricate as some others on offer, those harmonies win out.

Finishing off an already pretty cool collection of songs, the acoustic ‘Selling Out’ leaves the listener on a chilled, but not completely downbeat note.  The finger-picked guitar lines are soft and familiar, while the vocal has a fair amount of heart.  There’s a lesser focus on harmonies at first, allowing frontman Tyson Kelly a chance to stretch his voice out a little, his slightly weary delivery sounding like it comes from someone far beyond his years.  The second half of the track reverts to more familiar sounding harmony singing and a bigger arrangement, both of which bring the track – and the album – to a satisfying end.

If you’re looking for a mellow, summery listen, it’s hard to find fault with King Washington’s ‘The Gears’.  Each of the songs are very well crafted, and a gloriously full-sounding production (courtesy of the band themselves, with Joe Puerta of Bruce Hornsby’s Range/Ambrosia fame) is the cherry on the cake.  Retro, sure, but retaining an almost timeless appeal, this is a fine, fine record indeed.

May 2012

HELLYEAH: Pro-shot footage of complete Rocklahoma 2012 set

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Following the tragic murder of Dimebag Darrell, nothing will ever bring back Pantera, but the first half of 2012 saw a resonably full calendar for the other band members:

Pantera’s classic, career-defining release, ‘Vulgar Display of Power’ was given an expanded 20th anniversary reissue; Philip Anselmo has been touring with his band Down with new material is very much in the offing; as part of Kill Devil Hill, bassist Rex Brown toured Europe and shared a stage with Mike Portnoy’s Adrenalin Mob.

2012 presented an equally full calendar for ex-Pantera drummer Vinnie Paul, too.  His band Hellyeah, devoted time to recording their third album and playing live shows.  Just prior to the release of that third release, ‘Band of Brothers’, Hellyeah appeared at the Rocklahoma Festival, where they performed a forty minute set.

Professionally filmed footage of their entire performance can be seen below.

THE DANKS – Are You Afraid Of The Danks

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Signed to the independent label Hidden Pony Records (also home to the brilliant Rebekah Higgs), this album by Canadian four-piece The Danks is a record which explores slightly retro indie rock sounds, often at maximum speed.  Within a minute or so of the opening number, ‘What We’re Doing’, The Danks’ main aim is to get you bouncing.  The guitars jangle relentlessly – and it’s often those guitars which provide the core of the band’s sound – under which, the bass work is far more interesting.  Luckily, it’s with the second track, ‘Who Knows’ where things really begin to warm up, as that bass pushes towards the fore and sounds superb when colliding against unashamedly new wave keyboard fills.  Throughout this pair of tunes, vocalist Brohan Moore adopts a slightly slack delivery and an occasionally unsure high-pitched tone, in a style which could be compared to The Thrills’ Conor Deasy.

Over the course of the rest of their debut, The Danks rarely deviate from this solid musical formula.  In theory, although a couple of slower numbers wouldn’t have hurt (and it might have showed off something resembling a musical range), they should be praised for having such a strong sound and fully knowing what really works for the band at such an early stage in their career.   ‘Shifty’ finds the distortion turned down a touch, while more of a Hi-Fives influenced rock ‘n’ roll ethic drives the guitars.  Everyone sounds most at ease here; while there are a couple of catchier choruses to be found elsewhere, this tune is one of the album’s most well-rounded.

Another stand-out, ‘I’m Alright’ presents another lovely new wave keyboard which hammers a simple riff into your skull in place of a chorus, while Brian Murphy’s bass rattles in a more aggressive fashion.  Most bands would have certainly tried to find space for a more obvious vocal refrain, but honestly, the keyboards are so memorable, this track stands up as it is: simple, but fun.  Elsewhere, ‘The Squealer’ demonstrates Adam Hindle’s abilities with a hi-hat, while the rest of the band mix more jangly rock with almost shoe-gaze levels of distortion.  It’s probably the closest ‘Are You Afraid…’ comes to a slow number, allowing the listener a brief opportunity to pause for reflection…

‘Are You Afraid of The Danks’ offers twelve pieces of sunny indie rock, which when taken individually are all fine, groovy and incredibly professional.  While it’s relative one-paced nature can sometimes feel a little wearing, if you’re looking for something upbeat and trashy, you could do far worse than check this out.

May 2012


 

Final show of Judas Priest’s Epitaph Tour to get DVD release

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Judas Priest’s “farewell” tour – the appropriately named Epitaph Tour – reached it’s end in London on Saturday May 26th, after more than a year on the road. The tour saw the legendary metal veterans visit a huge chunk of the globe, headlining varioue European festivals along the way, including a set at the 2011 High Voltage Festival in London.

The final show of the tour took place in London at the renowned Hammersmith Apollo. It was filmed for a full length DVD release, due sometime in 2013.

The setlist of the final show did not vary greatly from other nights of the tour, with the band playing a lengthy set, featuring songs from all of the Rob Halford fronted Priest albums.

Set list [as posted on Blabbermouth.net]:
01. Rapid Fire
02. Metal Gods
03. Heading Out To The Highway
04. Judas Rising
05. Starbreaker
06. Victim Of Changes
07. Never Satisfied
08. Diamonds & Rust (JOAN BAEZ cover)
09. Prophecy
10. Night Crawler
11. Turbo Lover
12. Beyond The Realms Of Death
13. The Sentinel
14. Blood Red Skies
15. The Green Manalishi (With The Two Pronged Crown) (FLEETWOOD MAC cover)
16. Breaking The Law
17. Drum Solo
18. Painkiller

Encore:

19. The Hellion (taped intro) / Electric Eye

Encore 2:

20. Hell Bent For Leather
21. You’ve Got Another Thing Comin’

Encore 3:

22. Living After Midnight

REAL GONE’S EUROVISION GOLD, part 2: United Kingdom – almost nul points

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People talk endlessly about the Eurovision Song Contest being all about politics, and it’s hard to deny that.  Votes of top marks between Greece and Cyprus aren’t a new phenomenon; chumminess between the Scandinavian countries not uncommon.  Despite this, the Real Gone extended family has always made a night of it.  It is, after all, a good laugh.  Unless you ask our acquaintance from Albania, who actually really told us off, pointing out that we should never take the piss out of the ESC and that in Albania such things are taken very seriously indeed.  That said, we’re not sure what Albania were thinking with their 2012 entry, which seemed like three minutes of tuneless wailing.

Something discussed less frequently is that the Eurovision Song Contest is also about tourism.  Let’s be honest, here; before the broadcast of the 2012 edition of the contest, how many people knew what Azerbaijan looked like?  How many people even figured it would be so modern and beautiful?

With that in mind, Real Gone would like to offer a fairly interesting theory (which may have been bandied about elsewhere, though if it is, it certainly takes a back seat to the political theories):  Before the contest every year, everyone gets asked if they’d like to be the next year’s host.  Following this, on the actual night of the final, the voting countries are told – largely, if not completely – to award the three top marks to the six or so most willing potential hosts; the rest of the marks are distributed more fairly.

Think about it.  Not so silly, is it?

If it is true, of course, we’re not going to let that stop us enjoying the spectacle.  After all, it would take a pretty hard heart not to laugh at the fact that Jedward simply cannot do things in sync, despite [presumably] years of practice at that sort of thing. Even the bunch of Russian grannies seemed more professional…

In our second instalment of Eurovision gold, we offer more clips of Eurovision faux pas. In the previous entry, we poked fun at – but ultimately enjoyed – a few European entries. This time, to redress the balance, we’d like to look at the UK getting it more than a bit wrong.

People talk about Britain doing really badly in the “contest” every year, but stats show differently. For the first thirty years, the UK always did extremely well. In the “olden days” we seemingly could not get it wrong [we even came seventh with this piece of crap]. It’s only in more recent years – and again, for political reasons – our Euro-standing has taken a dive.

While the UK probably didn’t want to win the 2012 ESC, since our tourism isn’t doing too badly and the 2012 Olympic Games is costing a packet, crooning legend Engelbert Humperdinck deserved better placing than second-to-last.  Yes, the song was more maudlin than most of the entries, but he’s well known across Europe.

No matter what your opinion of the man or the chosen song, he certainly performed better than the following gallery of horrors – a couple of which, bizarrely, scored more points than Engelbert.

 

1991:  SAMANTHA JANUS – A Message To Your Heart

On the surface, this could have been reasonable.  The basic arrangement sounds like it’s been cobbled together from late 80s Swedish AOR albums and then embellished with some brassiness, making reasonable Eurovision fare.  What could go wrong?  Getting a poor singer-turned-actress in to sing it was step one… Step two was getting her to sing a trite lyric about world poverty while smiling and wearing a sparkly pink dress.  Just horrid.

2003: JEMINI – Cry Baby

Choosing Jemini for this entry is a bit like shooting fish in a barrel, but there’s no way this could be overlooked.  Technical problems on the night led to this woeful, woeful performance, resulting in the UK’s only nul points to date.  Those problems were not the fault of Jemini, obviously, but it’s unlikely that even a faultless performance would have made this average dance-pop tune a Euro-winner. Interestingly, even though Jemini couldn’t hear themselves, they manage to be a bit more in tune than Sam Janus.

2006: DAZ SAMPSON – Teenage Life

This is the crowning glory of British Eurovision embarrassment: a thirty-something year old man rapping badly about teenagers, while some women squirm around behind him in school uniforms. Presenting the worst of white, English rap, this makes George Michael’s efforts in ‘Wham Rap‘ seem credible. Who liked this exactly, and whom were they aiming it at?  Perhaps most importantly, how bad were the British contenders that didn’t get through in order for this to be the best?   When we first saw this we wanted the ground to swallow us up.  Jesus Christ.  Proceed with caution, you might get put on a list.

May 2012