Untitled
The Almighty Defenders
Self-Titled
Vice
Are the Almighty Defenders better than The Black Lips? Yes, by every stretch of the imagination. The Montreal defenders of the faith lend a tremendous amount of depth to the Lips hazy and flaky flower Punk. That said, the Lips contributions, in some ways, waters down King Khan and Sultan's synergy. Sure the latter can come up with a disaster like every other artist (see "Animal Party"), but the former puts there stamp on every song. King Khan's awesome rhythm guitar seems slower and less plucky (see KK&BBQS's "Fish Fight"). "Ghost With the Most" and "She Came Before Me" hold it together, but needs a little "kick in the pants" and never gets the kick. "Bow Down and Die" fares a little better because seems drenched in vocal feedback. "Cone Of Light" could define the album. Sultan's purposely faulty retro R N' B vocals gets better and better with every release. Listening to him bark out "By My Side" nearly a decade ago gave no indication as to how much he would grow as a front man. Similarly, the influence on "I'm Coming Home" feels like a Shrines song turned down a notch. Not because it's too loud, but rather because you can enjoy it much more at a lower volume. Right down to the Hendrix like guitar loop. The middle part of the album falls apart on so many levels. Somewhere "Jihad Blues" was a great idea, but ends up sounding like a bunch of alcohol and other chemicals in the depressant family were rearing their ugly heads at a New Orleans funeral procession. Even more depressing is "Death Cult Soup and Salad". If part of you was hoping for an update on the Mind Controls "Death Cult Shoot Out" you will be disappointed. Instead this is more like an alternate take on King Khan and BBQ's joke gone wrong, "Animal Party". Substitute animal noises for a combination of human grunts and groans. For someone who knows these three artists, every missed opportunity quickly find it's way back to the music. With a short run time though the bad seems longer and the good seems way too short. The uninitiated might describe them the way Spinner.com does, " (a) super group of sorts".
Self-Titled
Vice
Are the Almighty Defenders better than The Black Lips? Yes, by every stretch of the imagination. The Montreal defenders of the faith lend a tremendous amount of depth to the Lips hazy and flaky flower Punk. That said, the Lips contributions, in some ways, waters down King Khan and Sultan's synergy. Sure the latter can come up with a disaster like every other artist (see "Animal Party"), but the former puts there stamp on every song. King Khan's awesome rhythm guitar seems slower and less plucky (see KK&BBQS's "Fish Fight"). "Ghost With the Most" and "She Came Before Me" hold it together, but needs a little "kick in the pants" and never gets the kick. "Bow Down and Die" fares a little better because seems drenched in vocal feedback. "Cone Of Light" could define the album. Sultan's purposely faulty retro R N' B vocals gets better and better with every release. Listening to him bark out "By My Side" nearly a decade ago gave no indication as to how much he would grow as a front man. Similarly, the influence on "I'm Coming Home" feels like a Shrines song turned down a notch. Not because it's too loud, but rather because you can enjoy it much more at a lower volume. Right down to the Hendrix like guitar loop. The middle part of the album falls apart on so many levels. Somewhere "Jihad Blues" was a great idea, but ends up sounding like a bunch of alcohol and other chemicals in the depressant family were rearing their ugly heads at a New Orleans funeral procession. Even more depressing is "Death Cult Soup and Salad". If part of you was hoping for an update on the Mind Controls "Death Cult Shoot Out" you will be disappointed. Instead this is more like an alternate take on King Khan and BBQ's joke gone wrong, "Animal Party". Substitute animal noises for a combination of human grunts and groans. For someone who knows these three artists, every missed opportunity quickly find it's way back to the music. With a short run time though the bad seems longer and the good seems way too short. The uninitiated might describe them the way Spinner.com does, " (a) super group of sorts".
