King Khan

Genre: Garage

As my hands furiously unwrapped the the anxiously awaited new album from the King Khan & BBQ Show, it was obviously hard to contain the excitement. As if I really needed another helping of their signature howling-wild caveman thump 'n bump sound, it's always best to indulge in the good stuff while you still can, right? This marvelously primitive two-man party-machine has roots that run deep in the Montreal underworld of Spaceshits and Sexareenos, and yet this, their newest configuration, seems to top them all. Globetrotting across North and South America as well as Europe has honed their brilliant sound to a fine edge, and has only bolstered their reputation for getting even the most reserved and milquetoasted audiences to fall to their knees in awe of the pure soul of real rock'n roll on display before them. At their full power, all your worries will quickly melt away, and getting lost in their seductively irresistible sounds of audio salvation is easy once it gets inside your head. Scientists have a term for this phenomenon: total euphoria, and it's as real as it gets here, folks. I'm sure you've heard those intellectuals rambling about how if everyone in China all sat down in their chairs at the same time, it would cause a massive tidal wave that would cover North America. Well, let's just hope the Chinese never get ahold of this new King Khan & BBQ Show album as all that ass-shaking would surely send us straight to the bottom of the sea.

With the power to surely heal the sick and raise the dead, and BBQ's untouchably beautiful crooning blasted with Khan's Chuck Berry'd hog-wild guitar, it's no wonder they're touted as themost unrestrained and riotous party band on earth. And conversely, their ability to master the long-lost and lonely doo-wop, Don & Dewey'd bop shoo-wop sounds still can't cover up their ingenious raw punk sneer lurking under their unmitigated ass-shaking anthems. Their follow up album, What's For Dinner? and their first for In The Red, is everything I'd hoped it would be. Interspersed with spine-tingling ballads so real and simple and pure, it's easy to feel their instant appeal on all your senses at once.

The way they cover the bases so well (even paying homage to the Circle Jerks' "Operation") with real talent that's not just some stroke of dumb luck, it's no doubt that their presence is only going to get exponentially bigger as excited reports of their records and shows flood in from every direction. What's For Dinner? never lets up from one chicken-fried hit after another, and their incredible range effortlessly sways from one emotion to the next with the deranged dexterity and sloppy precision that always brings a smile to your soul. If there's going to be one boundary-breaking album this year, it's gonna be this one right here and the world is definitely going to be a better place with it's sounds echoing throughout it.

—Todd Killings 2006 (VictimofTime.com / Horizontal Action)