Make
room on your shelves for Melbourne's Custom Kings alongside your
John Butler Trio, Xavier Rudd, Augie March and Cat Empire CDs. Custom
King's debut album 'At Sea' shares those other acts' diversity and
stubborn individuality, ultimately sounding nothing you can easily
put into a "genre". Yes it's "roots', because they draw on both
reggae and folk, as well as contemporary rock and hip hop forms
to create their songs. But that's as far as the familiarity goes.
It's what they do with all that, and how they mix it all up and
write tasty little songs using those foundations. Every song stamps
itself with its own authority and personality. 'At Sea' is a term
we associate with confusion, but here it's a state of mind, transporting
us to some exotic place by the ocean where these music styles exist
both in their natural state and quite happily together. It's a timeless
place. The sun's shining. Life is what it is. The songs are about
real things, happy and sad. There are moments of humour. After a
series of EPs Custom Kings have lived up to what was hoped from
them. Custom King's debut album is one of the most refreshing and
original records I've heard in a long time.
Make
room on your shelves for Melbourne's Custom Kings alongside your
John Butler Trio, Xavier Rudd, Augie March and Cat Empire CDs. Custom
King's debut album 'At Sea' shares those other acts' diversity and
stubborn individuality, ultimately sounding nothing you can easily
put into a "genre". Yes it's "roots', because they draw on both
reggae and folk, as well as contemporary rock and hip hop forms
to create their songs. But that's as far as the familiarity goes.
It's what they do with all that, and how they mix it all up and
write tasty little songs using those foundations. Every song stamps
itself with its own authority and personality. 'At Sea' is a term
we associate with confusion, but here it's a state of mind, transporting
us to some exotic place by the ocean where these music styles exist
both in their natural state and quite happily together. It's a timeless
place. The sun's shining. Life is what it is. The songs are about
real things, happy and sad. There are moments of humour. After a
series of EPs Custom Kings have lived up to what was hoped from
them. Custom King's debut album is one of the most refreshing and
original records I've heard in a long time.