As my hands furiously unwrapped the the anxiously awaited new album from
the King Khan & BBQ Show, it was obviously hard to contain the excitement.
As if I really needed another helping of their signature howling-wild
caveman thump 'n bump sound, it's always best to indulge in the good stuff
while you still can, right? This marvelously primitive two-man
party-machine has roots that run deep in the Montreal underworld of
Spaceshits and Sexareenos, and yet this, their newest configuration, seems
to top them all. Globetrotting across North and South America as well as
Europe has honed their brilliant sound to a fine edge, and has only
bolstered their reputation for getting even the most reserved and
milquetoasted audiences to fall to their knees in awe of the pure soul of
real rock'n roll on display before them. At their full power, all your
worries will quickly melt away, and getting lost in their seductively
irresistible sounds of audio salvation is easy once it gets inside your
head. Scientists have a term for this phenomenon: total euphoria, and
it's as real as it gets here, folks. I'm sure you've heard those
intellectuals rambling about how if everyone in China all sat down in
their chairs at the same time, it would cause a massive tidal wave that
would cover North America. Well, let's just hope the Chinese never get
ahold of this new King Khan & BBQ Show album as all that ass-shaking would
surely send us straight to the bottom of the sea.
With the power to surely heal the sick and raise the dead, and BBQ's
untouchably beautiful crooning blasted with Khan's Chuck Berry'd hog-wild
guitar, it's no wonder they're touted as the most unrestrained and riotous
party band on earth. And conversely, their ability to master the long-lost
and lonely doo-wop, Don & Dewey'd bop shoo-wop sounds still can't cover up
their ingenious raw punk sneer lurking under their unmitigated ass-shaking
anthems. Their debut album, which is being re-issued on In The Red in
November, was an absolute monster.
Their follow up album, What's For Dinner? also on In The Red,
is everything I'd hoped it would be. Interspersed with
spine-tingling ballads so real and simple and pure, it's easy to feel
their instant appeal on all your senses at once. The way they cover the
bases so well (even paying homage to the Circle Jerks' "Operation") with
real talent that's not just some stroke of dumb luck, it's no doubt that
their presence is only going to get exponentially bigger as excited
reports of their records and shows flood in from every direction. What's
For Dinner? never lets up from one chicken-fried hit after another, and
their incredible range effortlessly sways from one emotion to the next
with the deranged dexterity and sloppy precision that always brings a
smile to your soul. If there's going to be one boundary-breaking album
this year, it's gonna be this one right here and the world is definitely
going to be a better place with it's sounds echoing throughout it.
The King Khan & BBQ Show will be hitting U.S. stages again this fall to
spread their rock n' roll gospel.
-Todd Killings 2006 (VictimofTime.com / Horizontal Action)
|
