Boston band Kingsley Flood first came to my attention late last year. I had been browsing the Boston Music Award ballot for bands to check out. A favorite of mine The David Wax Museum was up for another award, so I wanted to see who the competition was. With the internets at my fingertips I was quickly was smitten with Kingsley Flood. I found 'Roll The Dice' from the 2010 debut Dust Windows, and 'I Don't Wanna Go Home' and 'Wonderland' from the 2012 EP Colder Still. According to my friends as long as it's a Dylan derivative, I must love it. Oversimplifications aside, these guys had my attention; the songs were loud, bouncy, fun, catchy, and everything missing from a lot of music today! All the singles jump out screaming HEY LISTEN TO ME!!!!
Checking them out further, I found they have racked up many awards in the past few years. Kingsley Flood has been named New Artist of the Year at the 2010 Boston Music Awards, has been featured on Boston.com, MTV & Rolling Stone, and recently picked up new hardware with the 2012 Americana Artist of the Year at the Boston Music Awards! Me thinks, it is time to dig deeper!!
Kingsley Flood released a full-length Battles on February 5th, as an encore to the impressive Colder Still EP. The new album Battles is insightful, riff-tastic, and groovy. A promising single, 'Pick Your Battles' is sure to garner attention from anyone who listens to it. The fuzz heavy 'Down' is a bangin' catchy tune, even if it were written about jogging or going to the library. Great rhythms and beats are found everywhere throughout Battles. Just put the album on and you'll bob your head. However, it's not just the driving riffs and popping tunes makes Battles a must have for your collection. Whether it's the music or the lyrics that get your attention, Battles has it all.
Battles is filled with songs of trouble and despair; anthems for the disenfranchised. These are filled with pure honesty and heartfelt lyrics, the type written down after many nights of lost sleep, rectifying morals with the shortcomings of reality.
Kingsley Flood looks at this "battle" and questions what the right path is. Listening to Battles, I see that I'm not alone, and there's no easy answer either. As many have, I've struggled with decisions gone awry, growing up with few resources, and balancing out a future with a job that was just a job. So, it's interesting to hear how others have faced these types of issues through these new Kingsley Flood songs.
Coming out of college, I used to consider Incubus 'Make Yourself' as my personal anthem, doing things on my terms. Despite getting through college, and working hard to do well, I still found myself nowhere near the jobs I really wanted. Looking back at college, busting my ass on grades didn't get me the perfect job, but I couldn't imagine how things would have turned out if I hadn't done things the same way. Was it the right path to take?
Kingsley Flood looks at the same building blocks to "make yourself" but, unlike the decade-old Incubus album, Battles looks at other stages of life as well. Some parts are looking back at these issues through the eyes of an idolizing youth, those struggling with identity, and people well past the "Make Yourself" stage looking back to figure what the hell just happened! Battles helped me reflect on my tribulations and see how others have faced it as well.
Take a look at 'Hard Times for the Quiet Kind'
The lyrics really resonate with me. Growing up in a relatively affluent suburb, I grew up in a household without money. I won't say poor, as that's more of a state of mind. The paper idols hanging on my walls were Bo Jackson and Anthony Keidis, but I was never going to be an athlete or rocker. But, I grew up knowing that hard work came before play and actions had consequences. I certainly wasn't going to get a quick Twenty out of my parent's wallet to go to the mall for the afternoon. I grew up knowing if I wanted something I had to make it happen on my own, like my uncle who built his own house or my mother who graduated from college in her late 30's. The lyrics, break right through the issue. It's not about the lack of money, but the issue was not fitting in with or being accepted by "the Cadillac Kids" that often lived in the same neighborhood and went to the same schools.
Battles also takes a look at adults facing problems and whether or not you can look yourself in the mirror. Sometimes, hard work does not pay off when life gets in the way. In some cases people take the easy way out. Check out my favorite, 'Waiting on the River to Rise'
We swam along just fine
'Waiting on the River to Rise' Kingsley Flood
The key to the album is the final track. Despite our best to work through struggles, things sometimes just down work out they way we are expecting. Kingsley Flood and Naseem Khuri seems to have this figured out, telling the tale of an unemployed worker in the simple ballad 'This Will Not Be Easy.' In this account, he starts working what was expected to be a temporary job while unemployed; a different trade to make ends meet. The lyrics mention how hard it is, working a dirty, back breaking job while waiting for a new job to open. In the end, there is a fantastic sort of a validation looking back at his polished shoes of his previous job left behind. The song's character rises from conflict, knowing he's taking the right path, results be damned, with the exclamation "...and I hope this will not be easy."
No matter your struggle, successful or not, it's hard to not find a connection with Kingsley Flood. Likewise, in true spirit of Battles, as life just doesn't go as planned, the Kingsley Flood hometown Boston album release show was postponed due to winter storm Nemo. I know this won't hold them back, while they continue to rise to the top of the charts. I'm pretty sure they would like it to be easier, but I'm fairly certain that these thoughts have gone through their heads
Checking them out further, I found they have racked up many awards in the past few years. Kingsley Flood has been named New Artist of the Year at the 2010 Boston Music Awards, has been featured on Boston.com, MTV & Rolling Stone, and recently picked up new hardware with the 2012 Americana Artist of the Year at the Boston Music Awards! Me thinks, it is time to dig deeper!!
Kingsley Flood released a full-length Battles on February 5th, as an encore to the impressive Colder Still EP. The new album Battles is insightful, riff-tastic, and groovy. A promising single, 'Pick Your Battles' is sure to garner attention from anyone who listens to it. The fuzz heavy 'Down' is a bangin' catchy tune, even if it were written about jogging or going to the library. Great rhythms and beats are found everywhere throughout Battles. Just put the album on and you'll bob your head. However, it's not just the driving riffs and popping tunes makes Battles a must have for your collection. Whether it's the music or the lyrics that get your attention, Battles has it all.
 |
| Battles released February 5th |
Kingsley Flood looks at this "battle" and questions what the right path is. Listening to Battles, I see that I'm not alone, and there's no easy answer either. As many have, I've struggled with decisions gone awry, growing up with few resources, and balancing out a future with a job that was just a job. So, it's interesting to hear how others have faced these types of issues through these new Kingsley Flood songs.
Coming out of college, I used to consider Incubus 'Make Yourself' as my personal anthem, doing things on my terms. Despite getting through college, and working hard to do well, I still found myself nowhere near the jobs I really wanted. Looking back at college, busting my ass on grades didn't get me the perfect job, but I couldn't imagine how things would have turned out if I hadn't done things the same way. Was it the right path to take?
Kingsley Flood looks at the same building blocks to "make yourself" but, unlike the decade-old Incubus album, Battles looks at other stages of life as well. Some parts are looking back at these issues through the eyes of an idolizing youth, those struggling with identity, and people well past the "Make Yourself" stage looking back to figure what the hell just happened! Battles helped me reflect on my tribulations and see how others have faced it as well.
Take a look at 'Hard Times for the Quiet Kind'
"It's hard times for the quiet kind
They tame their tongues and wait in line
While the Cadillac Kids pay no mind
I don't want to be the one they leave behind
... I cut my teeth neath dead heroes, who live on my wall.
Their voices blown, their elbows thrown, but that's not what I recall"
The lyrics really resonate with me. Growing up in a relatively affluent suburb, I grew up in a household without money. I won't say poor, as that's more of a state of mind. The paper idols hanging on my walls were Bo Jackson and Anthony Keidis, but I was never going to be an athlete or rocker. But, I grew up knowing that hard work came before play and actions had consequences. I certainly wasn't going to get a quick Twenty out of my parent's wallet to go to the mall for the afternoon. I grew up knowing if I wanted something I had to make it happen on my own, like my uncle who built his own house or my mother who graduated from college in her late 30's. The lyrics, break right through the issue. It's not about the lack of money, but the issue was not fitting in with or being accepted by "the Cadillac Kids" that often lived in the same neighborhood and went to the same schools.
'Waiting on the River to Rise' Kingsley Flood
"Wake well past midnight
to the burden of bills
and the screaming quiet
We swam along just fine
then she broke her back
and a bank broke mine
Now, I'm at the kitchen table putting numbers on the paper and
dodging the mirror on the wall
And I swear I'd drive til the sun gave light,
I need just a little push is all
And I'd build my boat so tall so wide,
but I'm still waiting on the river to rise"
Now, I'm at the kitchen table putting numbers on the paper and
dodging the mirror on the wall
And I swear I'd drive til the sun gave light,
I need just a little push is all
And I'd build my boat so tall so wide,
but I'm still waiting on the river to rise"
'Waiting on the River to Rise' Kingsley Flood
The key to the album is the final track. Despite our best to work through struggles, things sometimes just down work out they way we are expecting. Kingsley Flood and Naseem Khuri seems to have this figured out, telling the tale of an unemployed worker in the simple ballad 'This Will Not Be Easy.' In this account, he starts working what was expected to be a temporary job while unemployed; a different trade to make ends meet. The lyrics mention how hard it is, working a dirty, back breaking job while waiting for a new job to open. In the end, there is a fantastic sort of a validation looking back at his polished shoes of his previous job left behind. The song's character rises from conflict, knowing he's taking the right path, results be damned, with the exclamation "...and I hope this will not be easy."
No matter your struggle, successful or not, it's hard to not find a connection with Kingsley Flood. Likewise, in true spirit of Battles, as life just doesn't go as planned, the Kingsley Flood hometown Boston album release show was postponed due to winter storm Nemo. I know this won't hold them back, while they continue to rise to the top of the charts. I'm pretty sure they would like it to be easier, but I'm fairly certain that these thoughts have gone through their heads
"... and I hope this will not be easy."
Comments
Post a Comment