By Kevin Scott
It's somewhat rare these days to see a band peer so far into the past to create something for the present, but with their debut album The Sea Kings appear to have done just that. The Glasgow band's debut surges with the sound of blues, gospel, country and rock & roll, from the huge chord that announces their arrival to the riffs, the piano melodies and the string arrangements that provide a platform for a lament on the inhumanity of humanity.
The opening title track doesn't sound a million miles away from The Black Keys, but it's grittier, the production a bit more raw. The bluesy rock is compounded by singer Brian Canning's husky voice. The guitars are blistering, the rhythm section pounding. Catchy as hell, the melody is electrifying. You could pick any number of reference points that may have influenced the band - 'Decadence and Decline' could have been recorded by Shack, and on every other track the appearance of Mark Lanegan wouldn't be too great a surprise. And if the psychobilly sound is bold, the themes explored on the album are even bolder.
Tracks like 'Moonlit Range' change the tempo, high hats, piano and jazz riff in front of dark feedback and rather gentle harmonies. The result is something that could have been recorded at any time over the last 20 years but sounds fresh. "I made a mistake when I listened to your praise / I almost died out on the moonlit range / I had delusions of a future reign," is a sharp precursor of the lyrical content.
The album touches on national apathy, the abandonment of hope and the horrors that have afflicted Europe in the last century - not for the lighthearted then, as proven on 'The Night of Broken Glass' and the searing: "I joined the Hitler youth / I was shaded from the truth / and my father wore a ribbon on his arm / I had to bang the drum / and I had to soldier on / past the unmarked sign of my father's grave." It's the catchiest song to ever reference the Dachau concentration camp in Germany.
And it doesn't stop there: lead single 'Bible John' is a jaunty rocker about the infamous 1960s serial killer of the same name. There's an edge to the track, the words hugely affecting, the overall result leaving a chill.
Elsewhere, 'Paris is Burning' is a real stand out, slowing the pace with some sections consisting only of Canning's vocal and a string section. Again, referencing a tumultuous time in European history, the album manages to appear intellectual without falling into pretentiousness. A tricky line to stay on the right side of.
'Church and State' is a slow-burning epic, tuning into a jazz rhythm before another incendiary lyric sweeps in on another melody so sweet it makes the content even more shocking. "So avert your gaze / I'm about to erase / the miracle of life."
There are weak spots - 'Have You Not Hurt Me Enough' is slightly formulaic; the drums pedestrian, the verse understated, the piano riff lacking energy, but even then, the folk-inspired chorus still saves the song.
The Sea Kings are a band with something to say; they want to shape a narrative around their sound and they've achieved this with devastating effect. If we are ever to overcome the fear on the streets and the dread in an unknown future that seems determined to replicate the mistakes of the past instead of learning from them; if we are ever to hold our politicians to account and wrestle power from the 1% then we need our bands to be as angry, to inform and incite as well as entertain. The Sea Kings' melodies may sound delicate in places but make no mistake, this is a band doing their fighting with their fingertips and not their fists. We need more bands like this.
