Friday, August 03, 2007

Review: Chesterfield Kings - Psychedelic Sunrise


Label: Wicked Cool Records

Release Date: September 18, 2007

The Chesterfield Kings get frequent comparisons to the Stones in their mid-60s prime. It's pretty accurate, because the they're a better Stones than the Stones have been in over 30 years. But it's also only a piece of the picture, because there are plenty of Stones knock-offs, but the Chesterfield Kings are so much more.

Psychedelic Sunrise certainly has a healthy dose of the early Rolling Stones throughout. Some tracks are pure Stones. "Spanish Sun" is painted pretty black and "Outtasite!" has "Gimme Shelter" written all over it. Most of the album isn't so blunt though, because the Kings dig a lot deeper into the 60s. "Streaks and Flashes" has all the soothing jangle of the Byrds, albeit without the sweet harmonies. They channel Syd Barrett on "Elevator Ride." "Inside Looking Out" dabbles in the baroque pop of the Left Banke. They fast forward just a bit to the early 70s with the glam-influenced "Up and Down" and finish up by borrowing just a bit of Alice Cooper's prime on "Yesterday's Sorrows" and "Dawn." Most impressive of all is the opening track though. "Sunrise (Turn On)" is what the Moody Blues would have sounded like had they actually rocked!

It may sound like Pysychedelic Sunrise suffers from multiple personalities and struggles to find itself. Nothing could be further from the truth. It takes a lot of what was good about the sixties and distills it into a new sound. The Chesterfield Kings will save you from wearing out your old, fragile vinyl, because they'll give you just about everything you want in a brand new package.

Rating: 8/10

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3 Comments:

Blogger taotechuck said...

"Spanish Sun" is painted pretty black

Very well spoken.

12:53 PM  
Blogger Ray Van Horn, Jr. said...

I liked that line too. I know the Kings are on Sirius' Underground Garage all the time and they're getting a nice little cult audience brewing

11:46 AM  
Blogger bob_vinyl said...

Chuck - Thanks. It was lifted and changed slightly from something I read a couple years back.

Ray - It was something you wrote that I lifted it from. I know they do get some play from Little Steven which makes sense since they'r eon his label.

11:06 PM  

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