Review Summary: The King Blues suddenly forget who The King Blues are
If you've ever wanted feel good fun punk, some of you may have turned to The King Blues. If you've ever wanted politically aware, social ***-you's, you've more than likely picked up a King Blues CD. If you've ever wanted a sing-a-long, you've probab....ok, you get it. The King Blues have produced two albums, Under The Fog, and Save The World, Get The Girl with two things in mind: how broken this world is when it comes to politics and community and such aspects as that, and making the listener, or the crowd at their energetic gigs, just want to move and shout. Sadly, however, Punk & Poetry just doesn't follow this groove.
The first problem being, that Save The World, Get The Girl was such a good album, they set themselves a pretty high bar to jump over. The second being, Itch seems to have lost his rag a little too much and just used this recording opertunity to just say '*** you' to everyone in his life who he feels like shouting '*** you' to. There's no direction of anger, there's no channeling of emotions in the songs. There is, however, emotion and true creativity, and passion, in the beat poems that litter the CD (5 Bottles of Shampoo/Dancehall) which are genuinely thought provoking, positive and somewhat moving.
In any case, an album has to start off strongly in order to keep its listener, and Last of the Dreamers fails to grab the attention of the crowd. It's been done before; it's just a statement about who the CD is for, who the messages are supposed to be aimed at, who the anger, who the exertive egg-ons are supposed to be channeled to, if only it made some sense. It seems its just words that rhyme, anything will do. There's not much to think about in this first section, so it just leaves you hoping the next track is gonna be.
Which, thankfully, it is. We Are ***ing Angry, which, in itself is a little awkward to roll off the tongue, making this song feel a little stupidly titled, (even though its a straight comment about the nature and content of the song), is really very good. It's easy enough to sing along to, it sounds much different to what fans will be used to, which can either been seen as a positive or a negative, and its pretty much the only song on the album which can be deemed exciting and controversial. It's not an anthem, it's not a ballad, its Itch's thoughts being shouted at you, which for the King Blues, normally works, and does here. Sets the tone for the album, but ironically, this is misleading.
Set The World On Fire is another highlight, its easy to sing along to, it's pretty much your basic run-of-the-mill King Blues song, with plenty of depth and energy to feel good about. A overall good track.
A beat poem follows, in Dancehall, which is a very clever, uplifting, positive outlook on life, and others around you, as Itch requests than on his demise, his ashes get turned into diamonds which are used to create a mirror-ball. As weird and maybe dark as this might sound at first, it shows Itchs intentions of making people happy and joyful are still intact.
The Futures Not What It Used To Be, is, in the best way I can describe it....a boring filler. The title of the song filled me with anticipation which I was soon let down with. The lyrics are throwaway, theres no real substance to the premise. The actual sound of the song isn't that bad, with the ska beginning, but it's still forgettable. The chorus is basic as you can get it, and Itchs voice sounds suspiciously synthesised on the lyric [Turn off the light], which is just an observation. I've never heard him hit that sort of note before.
I Want You is a more fullfilling and exciting track to be aquainted with. It's fast, the lyrics and delivery is very good indeed; and it sounds like the King Blues properly, for the first time on the album. It's still got a questionable chorus, but if I could have just one song off the album, it would be this one.
5 Bottles of Shampoo follows, and this is just fantastic. Itch has written, probably the best poem I have ever heard written, about something he is genuinely passionate and angry about at the same time, which is abuse and disrespect to women. The delivery of the words, the premise...it's all here. The music accompanying it is powerful, and it makes the listener think twice about the issue. Bravo.
Sex Education is after, and what a let-down this was. Don't get me wrong, I wasn't expecting an audio analogy of intercourse, but it would be more interesting and frankly better than this song. It's crude for all the wrong reasons, pointless and almost a joke. It brings the album down by a long stretch, it has no real relevance to anything on the album prior, it's just a waste of time.
Coming closely behind (no pun intended), is Shooting Facists. Again, what a let down. It's filler, nothing but filler. It's a throw-a-way song, in a way that I have never heard on the two albums before. It's one of those tracks with an interesting title that draws you in, and let lets you go. It has no substance, again, it's just there for the purpose of fitting the theme and filling the CD. Not worth listening to.
Headbutt is a breath of fresh air after these two songs before it. It's the song on the album you can sing along to the most, it's punky, its definiatly King Blues. The lyrics are more fun and fresh, its a song to take your mind off of all the political stances covered before. This is one to repeat.
Does Anybody Care About Us is a different approach, again, with no real anger channeled at a certain person or group, but just a cry out for help. It's deeper than most of the album, but still, a nagging feeling at the back of your mind that this is a rushed record, and songs like this could be perfect if more time and care was spent on it. Don't get me wrong, it's a fine attepmt, and does make sense, and is listenable, but theres still that feeling.
The last song, might as well not be there. Everything Happens For a Reason is just a tired, this-is-the-end-of-the-record-now-***-off kind of thing, and its another throw-a-way song. Filler...or ender.
It's sad that this album didn't turn out to be what it was hyped up to be, and yes, it does have it's moments. But personally, it's the first King Blues album that I wouldn't part money with for, and it seems different, but for a bad reason. It could have been improved, I think, with the inclusion of Holiday, which is a single from 6 months ago which is a phenomenal feel good track. The general feeling about this, however, is that the King Blues can do better than this record. And they have.
