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reviewed for The Dwarf

King Khan is one of those eccentric characters that rock n roll needs right now. A common factor in these times of dour indie pop and angsty, emo metal is for the most part a lack of charismatic personalities; larger than life front-men and women that can bring a bit of fun, drama and fantasy to the music.

King Khan is a Canadian based in Berlin and he has surrounded himself with a killer soul and garage rock band that blends in touches of psychedelia and funk. Live is their realm with online footage showing the band stirring up a storm of energy and righteous party music. Khan is the focus of the band with his outlandish stage costumes of capes, tights, tiaras and dresses. He combines the punk edginess of Iggy Pop with James Brown’s preaching and Jagger’s pout and strut.

The Supreme Genius Of… is a sixteen track collection of songs that shows the full range of The Shrines musical oeuvre. They can make sweet 60s soul sounds like the horn and falsetto-led ‘Welfare Bread’ and ‘Fool Like Me’ and then turn on a dime with the rama lama garage rock of ‘Outta Harm’s Way’ and ‘Burnin Inside’ that could have come straight from a Nuggets or Pebbles compilation.

The stylistic swerves continue with the doo wop rock n roll of ‘Crackin Up’, the Blues Explosion meets The Hives sounding ‘Torture’ and ‘No Regrets’ and the pure funk of ‘Tell Me’ and ‘Destroyer’. It all adds up to a glorious melting pot of rhythms and groove and if this album doesn’t kick-start your party then you seriously need to look at changing friends.

Khan has recently collaborated with members of Atlanta’s Black Lips on a gospel album under the name The Almighty Defenders, an obvious pairing when you hear the similarities between the two bands on songs like ‘Live Fast, Die Strong’ and ‘Land Of The Freak’. It is pure garage rock that uses a sense of urgency to get to both your head and feet.

Lyrically the songs are straight out of the primal rock n roll songbook. Themes of lost love, partying and unadulterated fun dial into every teenagers brain pattern and though these topics have been sung about for decades, King Khan & The Shrines bring an energy and enough groove to convince that they mean what they say and play.

This is an album that paces itself extremely well, dropping some spacious swinging ballads like ‘Fool Like Me’ when the temperature gets too high. With summer festivals on the horizon, The Shrines would be a highlight for any crowd. Part fun, part musical history lesson, The Supreme Genius Of… is a visceral album for hot nights, house parties and packs more uplifting goodness than most albums we’ve seen in 2009 so far.