ARTIST: King Khan & The Shrines
TITLE: The Supreme Genius of King Khan & The Shrines
LABEL: Vice
GENRE: Psychedelic Rock
BITRATE: 193kbps avg
PLAYTIME: 0h 52m total
RELEASE DATE: 2008-06-17
RIP DATE: 2008-06-26
Track List
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1. Torture 3:07
2. Took My Lady To Dinner 3:19
3. Outta Harms Way 3:12
4. Land of the Freak 3:33
5. Fool Like Me 3:53
6. I Wanna Be a Girl 2:32
7. Welfare Bread 4:16
8. Sweet Tooth 2:43
9. Shivers Down My Spine 4:10
10. Burnin Inside 3:09
11. Destroyer 4:22
12. Live Fast Die Strong 3:01
13. Crackin Up 2:12
14. Tell Me 2:14
15. Que Lindo Sueno 3:44
16. No Regrets 2:34
Release Notes:
Vice Records, the musical offshoot of the hilariously snarky Vice Magazine,
compiles the best tracks from King Khan & the Shrines career, piling together
16 of the boys greasiest platters for The Supreme Genius of King Khan & the
Shrines. Vice could be considered the perfect holding cell for the smirking Khan
(often pictured in less than pants), whose image relies on tongue-in-cheek
sexiness and whose lyrics revel in perverse humor. But beneath all the
boisterous tomfoolery lies a surprisingly gifted songwriter well versed in
Nuggets-era garage rock, Eric Burdons gritty stylings, and Sly & the Family
Stones hot buttered soul. Endowed with a massive 12-piece band including a horn
section, King Khan & the Shrines production pays perfect tribute to the era
its reproducing, complete with plate reverb and compression that flattens the
organ, Stax-influenced horns, an elastic rhythm section, and analog murk. Many
bands imitate the 60s sound (the Black Lips, the Detroit Cobras, and the Brian
Jonestown Massacre to name a few), but rarely do they hit the mark with such
accuracy. More importantly, the melodies are so warm and memorable that they
easily could be confused for hit singles of the baby boomer generation -- if not
for some of the racier lyrics. From the raw fuzzy drive of "Torture," "I Wanna
Be a Girl," and "No Regrets," all powered by Khans squeaky yowl, to the softer
psych, doo wop, and soul ballads "Fool Like Me," "Crackin Up," and "Welfare
Bread," the tight musicianship and adherence to just what made the vintage sound
golden make for a classic batch of songs, even if the material actually isnt
all that old. Its enough to mistake Khan for a serious performer, even if he
once went by the name of Blacksnake in a band named the Spaceshits. Supreme
genius may be laying it on a bit thick, but the songs are indeed as good as the
album cover suggests.