(Music Medication, March 17, 2009)
EP review
A London band who show a staggering devotion to style-over-substance is hardly a headline grabber - meaning that Illegitimate Sons Of The King are firmly page five news.
Make no mistake, the four-piece are a real study in what it takes to get noticed - using E4's 'Voiceover Man' as an announcer, packing their new EP with social comment and punchy rhythm.
There's a real mix of genres, which is ISK's prerogative, but it makes for cluttered and confusing listening.
The plinky plonky almost jazz piano on Go You Let Me is melodious and leads in to a tuneful vocal, "Go tell your mother you've been crying on the phone". The skill on the chorus is apparent in the harmonies, "Go, go, you just want to let me go" singer Danny Wilder hollers, and there's real passion in his voice, a real insight into human feeling.
But from that sublime, it's a speedy tumble to the jagged pseudo-Arctic Monkeys ska-style I'll Do It, all shouted vocals and a narrative on societal problems. Rather problematically, the social comment could be outwitted by Alex Turner, and while the chorus line "I'll Do It" is supposedly anthemic, it blurs into a meaningless shout-fest about getting drunk and peer pressure.
The nadir of the release, though, has to be Running In The Family. An ode to the sort of family that ITV2 devotes whole hours of "stranger than fiction" television to, it is lyrically concerned with the trappings of "modern life". In ISK's view, that is neighbours from hell up to all sorts. They flag up drug dealing and neglected children in an incredibly patronising, nauseating fashion, and all for the sake of a pop song. It is ill-advised, to say the least.
Talented and doubtless deserving, ISK have potential for success if they stick with quality - strong, well-written pop songs. It's up to them to go away and write some.
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