The King Lot – The King Lot

The King Lot are a Scottish Hard Rock trio who have impressed me greatly over the short space of time I have known them. Last year saw the band performing with several top acts such as The Answer, Beasto Blanco, Vain, H.E.A.T. and Supercharger. I managed to witness the band’s raw live energy myself towards the end of last year and wow, how they mightily impressed with a high energy performance and superb hard edged rocking that had a hell of a lot of grit and melody. Now sees the long awaited release of The King Lot’s debut album.

The album opens up high in energy and attitude with the track ‘As They Burn’. There are some great tight rhythms and nice bass grooves here. ‘One Of These Days’ is a huge singalong mid tempo rocker that’s full of melody and the chorus really hooks you. The sound is anthemic and wouldn’t sound out of place within an arena rock environment. The album flows smoothly along in a similar vein through the next two tracks like a trio of arena like rock sounds, full of catchy choruses and hooks that have that great feel good factor with the melodies.

It’s not until the fifth song in that things slow down a little with the ballad ‘Ghost Of You’. There are dreamy electric guitar sounds mixed with some semi acoustic in places that lift you up in spirit with the melody throughout. It is a pleasant tune without having too much grit like most of the other songs on the album do seem to have. The most Bon Jovi moment on the album shall we say. ‘Let’s Get Together’ picks up the pace again, and like previous tracks, this has that melody and chorus you can’t help but to sing and hum along to. The drum and bass sound massive in this one and feature prominently with busy guitar during the chorus.

‘Until My Dying Day’ was the first song from the album that has been previewed, with a video made and shared a year ago. I reviewed this track last year and it still sounds fresh listening to this with the rest of the album and is one of the standout tracks. Jason Sweeney’s gritty gruff vocals work well here and kind of remind me of a cross between Ricky Warwick and Phil Lynott in places. ‘All Is Not Lost’ has a little bit of a Southern Rock and Roll ballad feel about it. Intricate guitars work steadily with gentle bass and drum rhythms, and again the chorus and melodies stick in your head and you can’t get it out!

‘The Bang Of A Drum’ is one I have heard live and it is popular with the fans. The studio version has a slight early nineties alternative rock kind of a feel to it, with prominent guitar licks which sound so sweet that fade out to the end of the track.
Album closer ‘Queen Of Hearts’ is simply an acoustic rock and roll affair that wouldn’t sound out of place at the end of a late eighties/early nineties rock album, and with the grit of Sweeney’s vocals, towards the end I really couldn’t get the thought of Rod Stewart out of my head. It is a nice gentle way to wind it all down.

The King Lot debut album certainly does not disappoint and impresses greatly. It demonstrates great song writing and is full of tracks that have huge melodies and choruses, you will never get them out of your head. The album is well mixed, produced and polished by Martin Merenyi, with clean sounds throughout. It is nice to hear the mighty drumming from Chris Gillon driving the album along with some sweet rhythms coming from Jason Sweeney’s bass. Michael Fairbairn creates prominent catchy melodies throughout with his guitar. The album as a whole is full of good solid rocking, sometimes hard though a little alternative crept in here and there. This is such a strong debut to kick off with it is going to be hard to beat.

Track List
1. As They Burn
2. One Of These Days
3. Addicted
4. Telegram
5. Ghost Of You
6. Let’s Get Together
7. Until My Dying Day
8. All s Not Lost
9. The Bang Of A Drum
10. Queen Of Hearts

The King Lot – The King Lot is available now through Crown Jewel Records

The King Lot are:
Jason Sweeney – Vocals/Bass
Michael Fairbairn – Guitars
Chris Gillon – Drums

Visit The King Lot at:
www.thekinglot.com
www.facebook.com/WeAreTheKingLot
twitter.com/thekinglot