I'm not sure when this review from Sonic Dissonance was published, but here you go.
King Never - Possibilities
After days of internal debate, I came to this conclusion about King Never's new album, Possibilities. For me, it's like a Bomb Pop.
Seems to me there are two basic types of Bomb Pop eaters. Of course there's those that are die-hard with red-white-blue colored treats, they love every last bit of the popsickle. Then there's people like me that may only really prefer one of the three flavors. It's not that I won't eat the white or blue parts, I'd just rather have more of the red.
Occasionally, I'll run into similar feelings toward an album. Enter King Never.
As a whole, Possibilities will make a lot of people happy. The rhythms and grooves are smooth, the lyrics are quotable and Matt McCabe's vocals are fluid enough to garner some well-deserved attention. The die-hards (not unlike die-hards for any other band) will quickly become engrossed in the new songs, possibly proclaiming them to be King Never's best work to date.
As a King Never newbie, I can't attest to the difference between Possibilities and any of King Never's prior work dating back about 15 years. I can, however, tell you that the guitar work on Possibilities is my cherry end of the Bomb Pop. McCabe does a solid job of drilling out some electric work. For me, it's that electric work, with some semblance of ambient rhythms that keeps me listening.
Much like the frozen treat, I'll continue to listen and enjoy on some level the rest of the album. I just can't find myself engrossed in the rest of Possibilities. It's easy to recognize the talent and understand how and why the songs fit together, but it falls just short of personal intrigue.
What does it all mean? It means that McCabe and King Never have won me over enough to keep listening, even if it is sporadically just to get a guitar fix. Much like the Bomb Pop, I'll continue to open my ears to King Never's work even if the album as a whole isn't necessarily the best flavor for my personal soundtrack.
Recommended if you like The Fixx, Brian Eno, Porcupine Tree.
- Sonic Dissonance