| KUNGENS
MÄN LISTEN TO THIS RELEASE VIA BANDCAMP BELOW
|
 |
|||
|
LIMITED EDITION BLUE VINYL LP. HOUSED IN A 350GSM OUTER SLEEVE WITH PRINTED INNER SLEEVE & DOWNLOAD CODE
ORANGE VINYL REPRESS WITH ORANGE COVER IS OUT NOW VIA THE LABEL WEBSHOP OR BANDCAMP SITE
LP Tracklisting
A1 - Fyrkantig böjelse (11:23)
A2 - Öppen för stängda dörrar (8:03)
B1 - Män med medel (10:10)
B2 - Eftertankens blanka krankhet (11:24)
Kungens Män from Stockholm, Sweden has
been around as a musical unit since 2012. The roots as friends go way
back though. Noises, impulses, fuck ups and improvised jams have been
recorded since day one and some of them have been put out on record.
This is the first one on Riot Season Records.
While the previous album Fuzz på svenska
on the German label Adansonia Records was somewhat jazzy and pretty
introverted, this new one CHEF is more rock and to the point, but
still in the exploring, heady way typical of Kungens Män. Oh, CHEF
doesn’t have anything to do with cooking - it means boss or chief in
Swedish.
The inspiration comes from the drone, the
rattle of the loose screw, the circuit failure of the effects, the
phatness of the moog and from the very diverse wiring of a bunch of
middle aged Swedish freaks. Kungens Män never plan the next musical
move - it presents itself. Sometimes the costume sewn is really ugly,
but somehow there’s always room for the sublime as you turn it
inside out.
CHEF is the most effective Kungens Män
album yet. Four pieces, one LP. Four different moods, the Kungens Män
sound distilled. Dive in, walk around, start over again. It never
stops.
ORANGE VINYL REPRESS WITH NEW ORANGE ARTWORK AND DOUBLE SIDED INSERT IS OUT NOW
READ A NEW KUNGENS INTERVIEW WITH IT'S PSYCHEDELIC BABY MAGAZINE HERE REVIEWS
You never quite know what to expect with Kungens
Män, which makes each album release something of an event for fans.
Purveyors of some of the best psych available on this fair world,
they never stand still long enough for boredom to catch up with
them. Progressively searching for different ways to present their
music, they often explore multiple avenues on the same album.
After the excellent Fuzz Pa Svenska,
which was firmly rooted in free-form jazz excursions, it’s a
somewhat down to earth approach taken with new album Chef.
That’s not to say there is anything straightforward about it
though, and what we do get over the course of four tracks is some
rather excellent deep space rock mixed with dubby explorations.
‘Fyrkantig böjelse’ opens
proceedings in a suitably metronomic way, ushering in an exemplary
definition of how krautrock should be played out. It takes all the
classic tropes and redefines it in only the way that Kungens Män
know how. Full of ominous synths, searching guitars, and the funky
rhythm, it pulls you forward on its path whilst keeping all options
open as to where it is going to end.
Second track ‘Öppen för stängda dörrar”
is a much dubbier affair which explores the space between the music.
A slow beat unfurls over a continuous guitar but it’s the bursts
of spaced out synth noises which offer something much more alien.
Offering no kind of structure whatsoever, its pure weirdness pulls
you in and keeps you interested. As it reaches its climax, it almost
feels like the air around you is going to explode, such is the
presence of the music.
If ‘Öppen för stängda dörrar’
doesn’t quite explode, you may well be checking your surroundings
after ‘Män med medeln’, which positively tears a new hole in
the time/space continuum. Charging out of the pits, it doesn’t let
up for 9 minutes of pure unadulterated riffs. Of course, being
Kungens Män, there is a high degree of intelligence about this, and
every moment is perfectly placed for maximum effect. It’s a
scorching reminder of how good the band are, when they fire on all
cylinders.
Finally ‘Eftertankens blanka krankhet’
is a considered move into hypnotic territory, as it slowly caresses
your mind with its repeated motif. Over the top, the instruments vie
for attention, but never in an obtrusive, and as the track
progresses, they create a colourful accompaniment over the
hypnotising thread.
Once again Kungens Män have delivered
an album which is satisfying on so many levels. From pure
psychedelic freak out, to exploratory ramblings, and all imbued with
a sense of communal priority to create together a work of immense
intelligence, Chef is an album which begs for continued
listens and deep immersion. That it is so accessible too, makes that
genius shine through even more so. Superb
ECHOES AND DUST
Kungens Män hail from Stockholm,
Sweden and have been around as a musical unit since 2012 so the
press release tells me, which is a very good thing as I had never
heard of them before.
This to be honest is not the type of
music I normally sit at home and devour but this is in fact very
good indeed. An LP of four long improvised instrumental tracks, the
first track ‘Fyrkantig Böjelse’ is a fine eleven
minute piece of sonic jazz rock – imagine late 60’s Santana, The
Velvets and Sonic Youth jamming over the drum beat of Jaki Liebezeit
from Can: and yes it is as good as it sounds.
The second track ‘Öppen För Stängda
Dörrar’ at just over the eight minute mark, being the
shortest track on the LP, takes us on a gentler ride. More synth
dominated, I can imagine it being used in one of those wonderful
80’s horror movies, as it has a John
Carpenter feel to it, and again is a quite stunning piece of music. ‘Män
Med Medel’ follows this; a ten-minute plus track of
fuzzed up psych rock, the kind of track you can imagine
soundtracking Julian Cope dressed in
leather simulating having sex with the floor to. The final track ‘Eftertanke
Blanka Krankheit’ takes us back to the underground, the Velvet
Underground, and could well be my favourite of the four; the three
guitars intertwine beautifully as the bass and drums keep a hypnotic
slow groove of a beat.
All Hawkwind fans need hear this, or
even better, own it. So fantastic in fact that if I grew wings and
could fly I would have this track playing on my mp3 player as I
dive-bombed the less worthy below.
This really is a hell of an album and I
would recommend it to all space rock aficionados.
MONOLITH COCKTAIL
|
 TO BUY ANY AVAILABLE RIOT SEASON RELEASE DIRECT FROM THE LABEL, PLEASE VISIT OUR WEBSHOP BY CLICKING THE IMAGE ABOVE
|
|||
