There aren’t a lot of genres in popular music that can inspire the feelings rock n’ roll does, and when I listen to Kings County’s new single “All That I Want,” I can’t help but feel like this is a band that knows exactly what I’m talking about. Kings County are a riff-driven rock group that want nothing more than to get the party started with a gust of grooves and the red-blooded rhythm of a singer and guitarist playing in perfect harmony, and their song “All That I Want” is an embodiment of their simplistic approach to making music. Worthy of praise but not so rooted in machismo that it lacks modern charms, this single is required listening for rockers this January.
The lead guitar in “All That I Want” isn’t as flashy as one might it expect it to be given the lead-in it gets from the rest of the band here, but it doesn’t have to be to add a lot of definition to the melody in this song. The basic blues structure that most players would use isn’t in place here; rather than doing something predictable, the solo that starts at the 2:06 mark is a little more groove-oriented and funky, making the refrain that ensues sensuous and tension-releasing instead of the opposite. It might be a complicated route to take, but it gets us to the Promised Land at the climax of the track just the same.
In the music video for “All That I Want,” Kings County give rock fans all the goodies they expect in a contemporary video without getting too indulgent for occasional listeners to process, and though it seems a little compressed, the song in the background is still the main star of the show (despite the sexy imagery its joined with). It’s unfortunate that there aren’t more rock bands paying as much attention to making their music the main focus with any medium it’s presented in like these guys are, but perhaps if they’re able to rise through the ranks of the underground in the next few years, their influence will become stronger than that of their less than urbane opponents, most all of whom would have likely put a lot more props into this kind of a video.
Classic rock gets a much-needed makeover in Kings County’s eponymous debut album, and even if you’re not the biggest fan of the genre, you don’t really have to be to fall in love with what the group has done in songs like “All That I Want.” The greatest bands in rock n’ roll have always been rebels; they never played by the rulebook, and frankly, they never really cared about what the critics had to say about their output. Whether Kings County take the reception of their virgin LP to heart or not, there’s no denying that they’re earning all of the accolades they’re receiving this January, and my gut tells me that these will only be the first of many to be enjoyed throughout their ongoing campaign as a band.
Troy Johnston