Well, the kings definitely don’t give a shit about their “target audience”, which in my critical eye is a good thing. I say this because there’s really nothing much on this album that resembles the Southern Rock driven tunes from their 2004 release “Aha Shake Heartbreak”. Good. No offence to that album, but there was a point where the hype couldn’t cover the sameyness of the tunes. Not so with Because Of The Times. It turns out that KOL have figured out how to use their studio at last and these tunes are a great testament to the kinds of real artistic changes a band can make and still remain true to their essence. For example, the second track entitled “Charmer” is totally from left field. It looks as if KOL have started to listen to Sonic Youth, heaving bass lines and discordant dual guitars rule the day. And its one of my favourite tracks. There are a couple of more familiar KOL tracks here such as “Fans” and “Black Thumbnail” and yet these tracks seem to have more of an edge to them than anything found on Aha Shake Heartbreak. Theres an alienating kind of distancing sound found in all of these tracks, reminiscent to the aesthetic of a Joy Division or even Echo And The Bunnymen. Theres a sort of New Wave aesthetic running all the way through this album and I love it. So I recommend this album to everyone, sure it takes a few listens to grow on you, but I always find that my favourite albums always do.
