Kaki King’s previous album was a major disappointment to Slincoln Blogs. Now she’s released a new record, Junior. Is it a return to form for the guitar goddess?
Junior is at once the most conventional and unconventional album Kaki King has released. Conventional in the sense that it most closely fits the form of a traditional rock album; unconventional in the sense that it is the greatest departure from her original sound. This switch has its pros and cons. By moving away from the “tappy-bangy” — her term — style that was her trademark only reinforces her status as a guitar “god.” No matter the instrument she weaves fascinating melodies together. The downside in this evolution is it emphasizes her relatively poor vocal instrument and abilities as a lyricist. It is a truism of rock that you don’t need a classically beautiful voice to succeed as a singer, but Ms. King’s voice is so sleight it sounds like someone singing along to a song in Rock Band. Which in a way is comforting, she is so musically gifted it’s nice to know she isn’t perfect at everything. In the studio they can do a lot to cover this up, I hear a lot of overdubbing and effects to provide more weight to her voice, but I doubt that will work live (and it doesn’t, but that’s a later post). As I said, her skill as a lyricist is not stellar either — something she somewhat tacitly admits to in the album’s final song Sunnyside — however it’s not unheard of for a band to overcome clunky lyrics. Musically Junior does just that, from the gangly, driving beat of Falling Day to the post-rockish build up of My Nerves that Committed Suicide, Junior is an interesting album to listen to. But is Junior a great album? In the final analysis I would have to say no, it is not. Certainly Junior is a good album, and superior to the disappointing Dreaming of Revenge, but nothing here climbs to the heights of her earlier albums.
If Ms. King were to call me up and ask for my advice in how she should continue to develop her song…I’d say she should keep doing what she wants since that’s how all artists should function. However, my unsolicited opinion is that Ms. King should stick with what she does best, making amazing guitar sounds, and team up with a lyricist and/or singer. Sort of a modern day Daltry/Townshend scenario. That or ditch vocals altogether and sink very heavily into post-rock. Either move would be fantastic. However, even without any kind of dramatic shift I will continue to buy Kaki King albums because she remains a vital talent and will keep making exciting guitar noises.