Three Kings High “They Think They’re People”

Three Kings High were a band who caught us on the hop with their first album “Hail”. It was an absolute corker, from a band we hadn’t heard of. For some unknown reason, that album didn’t generate the world wide acclaim that it deserved. Thankfully, they are now back with their latest release. The only question is have they managed to maintain their brilliance?

Opener “Nowhere Fast” shows that they’re definitely intent on keeping their very high standards. It’s a ballsy first song with a great indie rock n roll feel to it. The start of “Go Love Yourself” really reminds us of a Pink song (don’t ask us which one though!). The remainder of the song, whilst still driven by guitars, has a more electro structure to it. There’s also a more sleazy rock n roll feel to that song and the appropriately titled “Reckless”. It’s a style that most indie bands struggle to properly pull off..but it’s no problem for Three Kings High.

Ironically, given it’s title, there’s a slightly darker edge to “Shine On”, although that is set off by the subtle but appealing female backing vocals. The song gradually builds into a huge and catchy chorus. This is a band that likes to keep you on your toes, so “Margin” has an almost flamenco start before growing in to a song which is like a mash up of electro, punk rock and jazz. It sounds a lot better than you might expect from that description!

“Digging Up Dirt” has the kind of big, dirty riff that the Band Of Skulls used on their last album and made the Black Keys so huge. It deserves to be played very, very loud. Although, that could easily be applied to the pulsating “You Don’t Know Me”, like all the songs here, it should be a huge indie hit.

As you should be able to tell, if we’re doing our job properly, we really love this album and band. They just offer something a bit different. Not ‘alternative’ in a precocious or vastly off the wall way. The songs are just a great blend of style and influences but importantly they retain a soul. This is one of the best albums we’ve heard this year.