Gareth - 5/26/2011

The King Blues first appeared on the scene in 2006, with a home recorded debut named 'Under the Fog'. When they were then signed to a bigger record label, the album was partly re-recorded and released again in 2008. In October 2008 their second album was released and helped the band reach much broader audience. The follow up to the king blues' last album 'save the world, get the girl' was always going to be tough as it was such a breath of fresh air at the time, music with a real point of view to it, a proper punk album with attitude. So to the follow up 'Punk and Poetry'. This album was made all the more difficult as the band were dropped by their record label prior to the release of this album and suffered the loss of several band members. The opening song, well more a ditty than an actual song, reels off a list in a 'this is for' style and seems to end before it even begins and certainly before you can get into it. The song 'We are Fucking Angry', is what you expect from the title, in the way that it is sung it is essentially.angry, also seems to incorporate current issues with lyrics such as 'cut the bankers, cut the MPs, cut the rich and cut the riot police, cut the state and cut the war, but they cut the poor', very relevant in the shadow of the recent budget.
'Set the World on Fire' is the first track to show shades of the band from the last album, a chirpier sound and melody and a good lyrical flow as you would expect from the king blues. This is then followed by another 'ditty' called 'dancehall', which, musically sounds like a war time tune played through a gramophone, but again to short to really get your teeth into, but in a way a welcome break from the full on pace of the album. 'The Futures Not What it Used To be' is a classic king blues song with clever and witty social observations by Mr. Fox. However, the flow of the tune changes three quarters of the way through to a heavy reggae driven track, which is not a change for the better and prompted a lose of interest from that point on. 'Five Bottles of Shampoo' sees the king blues standing up for women and defending the women of the earth in their own unique style but asking is it really necessary to be purchasing the five bottles of shampoo! 'Sex Education' details how kids these days get their sex education and no its not a song about sitting in class watching 1970's documentaries and asking the teacher questions to a lot of laughing and awkward looks, but again a Johnny Fox approach to education. Another break comes in the form of 'Shooting Fascists', which is just Mr Fox on vocals and playing the ukulele, the third short track on the album about the fact that 'your granddad didn't vote for fascists - he shot them'. Perhaps the most immediately catchy tune on the album is 'Headbutt', which has already been released as a single some time ago, and definitely one to stick in your head.
A strong follow up to their last album, however it doesn't quite pack the same punch, command the same attention or raise as many smiles lyrically. None the less a very good album and still doing what they have thus far done very well. Definitely worth a listen regardless if you've previously heard the band or not