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Puppet Kings: Very Cool & Groovy (EP)

Melodic Heavy Rock

4.5/5.0

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Unsigned/Self-released
Review: Craig Hartranft
Added: 23.08.2017

Since 2011, Puppet Kings have been slugging it out in the English hard rock scene. They've shared stages with Skindred, Therapy, Kobra & The Lotus, Sons Of Icarus and We Are The Ocean, among many others. In the same time, the dropped one full length album, Puppet Kings in 2012 and an EP, Timebomb in 2015. Now the Brit power trio returns with a new EP, the four song Very Cool & Groovy.

Puppet Kings

My interest in Puppet Kings began before I even listened to the EP. In the short bio on their website, they describe their musical style as a cross between The Foo Fighters and Megadeth. Huh? What would that sound like? Let's have a listen. With the thick riffs, spry guitar licks, heavy yet groove laden rhythm section, Puppet Kings sound like a Seventies blues-infused heavy rock band washed through Eighties accessibility, and then spiced with a slight metal edge. Maybe that last thing is where Megadeth comes in. You got me. I just know I liked what I heard.

The songs Wanderlust, Taurus, and Other Side have infectious and tight rhythm and groove and slick guitar lines, all wrapped in appealing melody. The same could be said for the fourth song, Rich N White, but it turns on something more. With the groove driving it, the song turns on the serious satirical lyrics that skewer Western politics of immigration, inequality, and war, to name the obvious. While their native country is targeted, President Donald Trump's confusing, often divisive, rhetoric seemed to be their inspiration. All this is to say that Puppet Kings' Very Cool & Groovy is a mighty fine four song EP, bound to please their fans. But it's simply too short. They need to crank out some more tasty tunes in the future, the near future.

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Puppet Kings' Very Cool & Groovy is a mighty fine four song EP of very groovy melodic heavy rock. Easily recommended.

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eviewing my archives, I was pleased to find that I have had the privilege to review every Lionville since their self-titled debut in 2011. Formed by Stefano Lionetti, a songwriter, singer and guitarist based in ... [ Read More ]