These are dark days for music my friends.
I'd first seen them about four years ago at the Rebellion festival after Attila The Stockbroker had recommended them during his set. The next day we duly poked our heads around the door in the Empress Ballroom mid-afternoon to catch an absolutely storming performance. They played a ska -punk tinged set bringing bands like The Specials and The Ruts to mind but for me they seemed to be the embodiment of a Clash for this generation.
The debut album Under the Fog was originally released in 2006 on Household Name records after being recorded in four days in a bedroom. An updated version was re-released in 2008 and showcased a band perfectly at home with their brand of politically laced punky reggae ska. A second album, Get The Girl, Save The World was released later in 2008 and was critically well received and featured some killer songs and the epic What If Punk Never Happened. 2011 saw the release of the perfectly titled Punk and Poetry and the future was looking rosey as the band headed over to America at the start of 2012 to record their forthcoming album Long Live The Struggle.
But it looks as if it's time to move on. I loved this band from the moment I saw them, my son probably more so. I've been lucky enough to catch them live a handful of times and have not seen a band move an audience in the way they do for a long time.
The Clash released 5 albums before splintering and left a legacy that still resonates today and I think The King Blues (my new Clash) will leave a similar legacy that will only be fully realised with time. As with the Clash, whose band members went on to release albums that I came to love, let's hope that both Itch and Jamie Jazz and the others all carry on with whatever they do next with the same passion and edge that made The King Blues so captivating.
THE KING BLUES - WHAT IF PUNK NEVER HAPPENED
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KcFZEsn2Lls&feature=related
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