Kings Die Kings: 'The Onus EP'

It’s a regular occurrence; you hear the first 30 seconds of a song and already you’re comparing, scouring the recesses of your mind for sound-a-likes, contemporaries and potential plagiarism.

Often, the band or artist in question either set themselves up for the unattainable, resulting in a spectacular demise where nothing is left deconstructed and everything discarded. On that note, let me throw some names at you: Joy Division, Interpol, Kings Die Kings. More specifically, Ian Curtis, Paul Banks and Keith Routledge because the Kings Die Kings front man, for the most part, does a fine sideline in wound, monotonous intensity.

So, already, this sounds a little contrived and ‘Exhibitionist/Instigator’ does little to alleviate the fact with Routledge’s vocals and rigid melody screaming ‘Interpol!’, but if you allow ‘The Onus’ to play out, you’ll quickly realise that Routledge and Kings Die Kings are for real. While ‘Anticipate’ is instantly forgettable, ponderous and pedestrian, ’In The Grips’ snarls and hums with metronomic menace, and the aforementioned ’Exhibitionist/Instigator’ makes a courageous play at utilising self depreciation, despondency and mordant harmony.

As ‘The Onus’ - gorging on its own murky misery – brings the EP to a close, you cant help but reach for your black skinny tie and ‘Turn On The Bright Lights’. It probably wasn’t the desired effect, but Kings Die Kings have chosen a more than creditable blueprint on which to work from.

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Written by Reef Younis.