The King Blues, 38 Minutes, Album Review
The King Blues
38 Minutes
Album Review
To this day, I would still regard British Ska-punk group The King Blues as possibly one of the most underrated bands in recent memory. They have been making music since 2004, which means 2019 marks their 15th year in music.
With fantastic previous efforts such as Save The World . Get The Girl, and more recently, 2017's The Gospel Truth, The King Blues had already proven themselves as an incredibly talented band with a good knack for giving each track of theirs a great story behind them.
This storytelling aspect come into full-play with the release of their newest album 38 Minutes. The theatrical nature of this album shone through recently.
You can tell that the band really focused on concept just by this albums title, as not only does the full album last 38 minutes, but it also reflects the storyline of this album, that being the false missile alarm in Hawaii back in January 2018, in which it took exactly 38 minutes for the problem to be corrected.
Not only does this album show a furthering of the bands storytelling, but also in their versatility and style, as 38 Minutes strays a little further from The King Blues' core punk aesthetic and dares to be more adventurous.
The majority of the tracks also tell a unique story of a person (or people) in Hawaii at the time of the false threat. From a couple in an affair who attempt to row out to sea, to a depressed teenager who has an epiphany after hearing about the threat, each story is engaging and immersive.
This is mostly thanks to lead singer Jonny Fox's marvellous knack for poetry and spoken word, which almost sound similar to Rou Reynolds of Entr Shikari on this record. But more importantly, Fox essentially serves as a narrator for what sounds like a musical theatre score on this wonderful dramatic album.
Despite the tighter focus on making 38 Minutes a concept album, it isn't just style over substance; there are still a high number of accessible tunes, a handful of which still carry that Ska-punk flavour that fans are used to.
Some fantastic tracks on this album include "Get the Boat", which feels very reminiscent of the Save The World . Get The Girl era, as well as the beautiful "Blissfully Unaware", which sounds almost like a McFly song.
But the most impactful track in my opinion, is the final track on this album "End Credits". This track pretty much ties everything on the album together perfectly, while also sending out a very important message; Why should it take the warning of imminent death to show your true colours? Why do people have to be on the brink of death to go out and achieve what they've truly always wanted? These kind of questions posed by this track really resonated with me and inspired me.
But what ultimately makes The Kind Blues so under-appreciated is that the example I placed above is not the first time the band have inspired me this way. They truly are masters of not only creating an engaging narrative with each instalment, but also connecting with its listeners in such a genuine and sincere way.
If you haven't already, go and listen to this album, it could potentially be my new favourite piece from the King Blues and easily one of the strongest albums conceptually this year. This is one you don't want to miss out on.
Thank you for reading.
Booth Boy
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