Californian progressive rock trio King Never describe their latest release All These Things as a "mini-concept EP exploring themes related to World War I - leaving loved ones at home for the chaos of battle, the futility of the war, and finally, hope". That is a lot of ground for only three tracks, but they found a way to capture the predicament of the soldiers in the trenches in West Flanders. Their superior officers did not have clue, offering only the futile hope for a decisive push.
Musically King Never take cues both New Wave (The Police) and prog (early Seventies King Crimson, and Budgie). The band doesn't use many words, but make sure that each one of them counts. With shifting time signatures and vocals on the brink of straying off pitch All These Things is a required taste, but like any good music it puts up both a challenge and invitation to dig deeper into the subject matter.
The First World War was Hell on Earth for the common soldier, led by generals who didn't give a fuck about casualties. Millions died in gruesome battles at Verdun, the Somme and Passchendaele to name a few. Recommended reading: Barbara W. Tuchman - The Guns of August; Erich Maria Remarque - All Quiet on the Western Front; Robert Graves - Goodbye to All That; Ernst Junger - Storm of Steel.
King Never:
Matt McCabe: vocals, guitars, guitar loops, keyboards, Moog bass pedals
Karl Lane: bass, loops
Nick Baranski: drums
All These Things is a self-released EP (digital only). Buy it from their website. The album is dedicated to their bass player Karl Lane, who passed away in 2014.
On a side note: their full discography (7 releases) is actually cheaper.
- Over Me
- And The Rain Came Down
- Breaking Through
» kingnever.com
