Friday, October 17, 2008

King Hamelin review

King Hamelin: this is an odd duck. There's definitely something really cool about this band. but; there's also something really lame about this band as well. I spent the 15 minutes-or-so listening to this band's myspace trying to figure out whether I hated it or loved it. In the end, I think it was a little of both, though I have to admit, there's nothing I hated. There was nothing dreadful about it, just, how should I put this....incomplete. It's a two-piece, so that's to be expected. The lyrics didn't strike me as all that intriguing, pretty typical stuff about not wanting to hurt the one for whom one cares.

Nevertheless, there were some extremely interesting elements to this music. Particular the instrumentation. The dude plays bass and flute, that automatically makes him courageous and cool - and automatically makes him an Ian Anderson fan (I, too, am an Ian Anderson fan). The song that struck me the most on the myspace was the last one, entitled "Bell." The lead-singer, Hamelin, has a good voice for your average person, but as a front man there was something lacking. "Bell" is him and his flute and it is BEAUTIFUL. I wish it didn't cut off like it does at the end, because a piano gets introduced and it sounds like it's going from good to better.

If I were speaking with Hamelin directly, I'd suggest that he find a guitarist who he can co-write with. I think there are some strong ideas, they just need to be fleshed out. If I were talking to someone considering listening to this band I'd say, "yes, go listen to them." But I'm not sure if I'm ready to give them an outstanding recommendation...yet.

-Hank C. Kupsic

No comments: