It has been quite some time since I last heard anything from these guys. In fact, when the only other album of theirs I have heard, ‘Fantastic Freak Show Carnival’, came out in 2005 the band was just one guy, multi-instrumentalist John Bassett, but these days it is a genuine four piece with John providing guitars and vocals, David Georgiou (keyboards), Rob Watts (bass) and Bernie Smirnoff (drums). They are particularly proud that reviewers find it almost impossible to properly describe their music, and just listening to this the very first time, the one thing I was very sure of was that I really liked it. How to put those feelings into words for others to understand who hadn’t heard the album was a little more problematic however. The album is basically the bringing together of hard rock and neo-prog, and with that as a basis there are plenty of art rock, alt rock and even psychedelic influences so that as the listener moves through the album one is never really sure of what is coming next, which in turn is one of its’ great joys.
It is a timeless album, almost as much at home in the late Sixties as it is in the current day, refusing to sit in just one space but instead bringing together a cornucopia of sounds and ideas in a way that is somehow always accessible, and never hard work. True, it can go from keyboard led to fuzzed guitar and bass at a drop of a hat as they move happily from one genre and style to another within the same song, but it always maintains a sincerity and conviction that carries it through. Whereas some albums tend to drift, this has a focus and intensity that means that the listener feels compelled to keep coming back to it time and again.
The one annoyance I have with this album is that between the last one I heard and this one is that there have been two others, and thanks to this I now need to go back and see what they are like as well. If you have never come across these guys then you owe it to yourself to go and do so now. And if you ever wondered what Black Sabbath would sound like if they were crossed with 10CC then play “Book Of Faces” and wonder no more.
www.kingbathmat.com
