Eager to display their range (not something most heavy rock bands can lay claim to) Kingskin have squeezed five brisk, fast-paced tracks onto their latest release, Humpin Mojo.
Having listened to the title track I'm none the wiser as to what it means, having been distracted by the sheer onslaught of the guitars after a deceptively gentle twangy start. Humpin Mojo lumbers along like an old-fashioned Heavy Rock behemoth, half Sabbath, half Zep, but it's hardly typical; most of the tracks are bouncy fast-movers like Fat Mama Got Soul, musically probably the most exciting song on the collection, whose instrumentation and fast lyrical delivery leans towards early Chili Peppers.
As victors of Kerrang!'s Best Unsigned Band competition the Dover foursome are going to be keenly watched; if this EP is any indicator they will be worth watching too. They play from a solid core, and don't let showing off get in the way of a great funky bassline (like the one that kicks off the first track, In The Way, a gritty, steamy number that nails their colours to the mast as lead singer Chris Lamb growls "square peg, round hole").
According to their biography they started off playing grunge tunes on trumpet and piano, but several years later they actually remind me more of stadium bands like Aerosmith when they get their rhythm section going, and their solid centred sound also has echoes of Motorhead strained through a mesh of 90s influences, most apparent on Bottom Dollar with its hypnotic, repetitive chorus. All in all an exciting taster with promises of great things to come.
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