SOUNDTRACK: KINGS OF SPADE-Crave (2013).
I have seen Kings of Spade twice (both times opening for King’s X). I have never heard of them outside of these shows. And yet, they seem to have a pretty good following (especially in their native Hawaii).
Their website describes them as “blues rock from Hawaii” and that’s pretty apt. They certainly groove in the rocking blues. They are fronted by a fantastic, powerful singer named Kasi Nunes. She formed the band along with guitarist Jesse Savio. There’s also drummer Matt Kato, bassist Max Benoit, turntablist DJ A2Z and percussionist Obie 1.
“Crave” opens the disc with some great bluesy grooves and solos all under the power of Nunes’ wail. “Boys in the Band” is a song they still play and it works great in concert. The recorded version features a turntablist, which they do not have live. The song has a cool break where you get to hear Nunes’ voice unaffected as she sings the title.
“Funk” adds some horns, although not a lot of funk, which is fine. It works more as soul with scratchy wah wah guitars.
“Weight on My Shoulders” is a strange song. It has the riff and melody of “Crimson and Clover,” a song I don’t really like. But the lyrics of the chorus focus on the weight of the world being on her shoulders (to the tune of “waitin’ to show her”). The verses are the big surprise because the song turns into a rap. Nunes’ flow is pretty good, but it’s more about her lyrics than her delivery. She raps about growing up and the awkwardness of being a woman at 25. Nunes is all about women and feminism.
“Keep On” starts with her saying “to the most beautiful, this is from X-Factor (X-Factor was their name before they became Kings of Spade). This is a groovy song with Nunes’ rapping and the turntablist working away. There’s more horns as well. It rocks pretty well, and there are two sections that change the style of the song in an effective way. I like the end where the song switches tone into a more menacing-sounding thump.
“Move On” rocks along, very catchy and fun with some cool organ underneath the riffage. Until the middle when it really slows down to a kind of Janis Joplin vein. The first time i saw them, they played a fantastic version of Piece of My Heart (Nunes hits the marks really well).
I’m not sure if it was well-known that Nunes is a lesbian. She doesn’t mention it until song 7. But she’s certainly not hiding the fact because the whole of “Don’t Hate Me” is about her coming out experience. It’s a powerful tour de force (which is rapped as well) that covers many bases about coming out–parents, classmates, friends, community. She sings about “growing up a baby dyke” and spending years as “a closet homo” before finally reaching a place where “a hater’s lame opinion can’t cause me any strife.” I love the metaphor about building
The final song shows off yet another style of the band. “Secret Lover” is a slow acoustic song with a kind of Spanish feel. It’s a love song to a secret lover (no one will ever measure up to you) which I can’t decide if it’s awesome or sad (is the secret a good one?).
This is a solid album. It’s a bit all over the place, trying out different sounds. They will step things up for their next album (and Kasi will adopt her now-trademark red Mohawk).
[READ: July 26, 2016] “Alice”
This is the life story of a little girl. It is told by a distant, almost disinterested narrator, and this narrator fits the girls’ life as well.
Living in Australia, Alice had red-gold sausage curls. She had lovely hair and thick creamy skin and gray-blue eyes. Her disposition could be summed up as “it is good to be good.”
Her mother was Scottish-born and was irrational, quickly tempered and noisy: “she had no feelings.”
Alice’s mother didn’t regard her at all. After her mother had two boys, they consumed all of her attention. Alice became nursemaid and nanny to her brothers. Any problem became Alice’s fault. And even though people looked at her and admired her, once they realized that this would gain no favor with her mother, they admired her brothers instead.
Alice knew things were not fair. Despite her temperament, because of her situation she had few friends.
The few times she asked to do something with someone, she was ignored. Until she mentioned Eric Lane. Eric came over, she watched “her mother performing for Eric, and then (she always paused here in her mind), somehow she wound up married and in another house.”
Eric was okay, but rather dull. Eventually his work took him into the bush. Alice’s mother wouldn’t let he go there so she moved back home to look after her brothers again. While Eric was there he sang a love song to a girl. But he was forgiven his transgression. And that made him like Alice more.
They both moved far away from her mother. She visited from time to time. Eric tried to help, but he too was ignored.
Then Eric’s work sent him back to the bush and this time he was not forgiven and soon Alice’s mother had another man for her–this one less smiling, less pleasant. Next to him, Alice’s mother seemed better.
The story seems doomed for sadness until Alice meets a girl in the town. The girl is young and Alice is now gray-haired. The girl respects Alice’s opinion. But what impact can one girl have on another woman’s life?
I really liked the way this story was so distant and matter of fact about horrible things and yet it has such a powerful ending. It was still remote but very effective.
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