The King Blues come from Hackney and the first thing that strikes me about the band is the term hackneyed. If the press release wasn't enough: "
We do have an agenda that's quite simple: we want to unite people". (Maybe after they achieve that they'll find another token ambition taken from an ex-Miss Universe to attempt?) The lyrics to "Come Fi Di Youth", well the ones I can make out, seem to give a broad, general stab at political song-writing. They're angry about something but we don't know and, for my money, they probably don't really know either.
That aside tho' the refrain of "
They comin' fi di youth and me say no" catches you instantly and, after a couple of listens, I was singing it to myself skanking against the sink doing my dishes. The London patois of their home shines through and doesn't seem forced. The band have come from one of the most ethnically diverse areas of London and wear it proudly on their sleeve.
The single kicks off with a drum roll that leaves me expecting some fast, furious punk rock but it instantly goes into a mellow reggae bass line with drums full of reverb to give it a pleasantly surprising dub feel. The vocals remain loud and angry in spite of the flowing feeling of the rest of the song and it works well. It's hard to listen to the song without thinking of Capdown or even Rancid's "Life Wont Wait" but the band still manage to capture their own sound despite the obvious nods to their influences.
At first listen this song seems to drag on but it works its way into your subconscious easily enough and, thus far, it's managed to stay there.
The album version, also available on the CD, is far superior. With more "horns", which sound like they've been accomplished on your sister's old Casio, and an acoustic guitar playing the upstrokes. The production on the album version also gives it a more dub feel and it's hard to think of many bands that can mix dub and punk so well. It's also a good minute longer and isn't afraid to let the repetitive bass line do all the work. The band are up there with The Slits, The Clash or Capdown in their ability to merge the genres and I look forward to hearing the rest of the album or seeing them live.
"Come Fi Di Youth" is available on Island Records from 6th August and the band are playing the Carling Weekend and would be well worth checking out.
myspace.com/thekingblues
