So, the new King's X album is out. What's it sound like? What are they saying on this record? Musically, like the title implies, the band is exploring their esoteric roots again. The album starts off with some noisy dissonant ramblings before settling into a song. We even hear an interesting rapcore-like delivery in the verses of "Smudge," followed by rocking waves of sound we've come to expect from a King's X chorus. The overall sound is a good mix of the total King's X sound -- the swirling harmonies and layered sound of early albums, with the dry heaviness of later albums. Certainly another musical gem.
The big question for believing listeners with this album is going to be lyrics. Inside these 10 songs we hear an interesting array of thought. In the lead-off track, "Fish Bowl Man," we can hear Jerry rattle off a bizarre diatribe that recalls the Gretchen Goes To Nebraska days of streaming consciousness. Here's an excerpt: "...humanity swearing, because it's been born / a non-speaking monarch from fairy tale mishaps / charted a boat to visit my pain / we talk for hours, then all became clear / simply because, I'm a fishbowl man." Interpreting lyrics like this is kind of a free-for-all, as the words can become owned by the fan after a while. This listener instantly thinks of God as the "non-speaking monarch," who visited our pain in the Person of Jesus. Hmm. Could it be? But what does "fairy tale mishaps" imply?
In the coyly-titled "Charlie Sheen," the phrase "...all the crap I've bought..." could've easily been said using profanity, especially considering the topic has come up before with King's X. Hmm. Maybe some thought went into that word choice?
In "Smudge," Doug Pinnick talks about his experience as a young child, where he was seemingly being led to Heaven, and he yanked his hand away from the angel and ran back to his mom, as he recovered from a deathly sickness in his bed. The song acts as almost a dream sequence, with other childhood-like memories thrown in, such as swallowing medicine, etc. "Marsh Mellow Field" and "Move Me" are other tunes that seem to carry even more lyrical weight:
"Heard you were coming back / been hanging around for so long / a militant mother, a militant brother, a militant marsh mellow field / loosened the tourniquet / long way to go for so long / an angry professor, misguided confessor, a militant marsh mellow field / oh, won't you take me...out of my mind?"
"Valedictorian, living the words for so long / I love you forever, I curse the bad weather, in militant marsh mellow fields / it's raining in story land / stuck in the pages so long / attracted a loser, a practiced confuser, a militant marsh mellow field.
"New resolution / forever lasting so long / got over inflated / I'm no longer waiting, in militant marsh mellow fields." ("Marsh Mellow Field")
"Once I was told, 'There's a race to be won,' pointed their finger straight into the sun / to be blinded and I minded...Wish I could whisper how much I need you / after tomorrow I might forget to / if it's only from a story...
"Keeper of mysteries, river of tears / after it's over and after the years are passing, never asking / what about miracles, faith in this space? It keeps me guessing with nothing to hate / I am lonely and unholy / everything matters, a prayer when you're scared / boarded up windows and broken down chairs / before morning, heard it storming / handful of rituals, hands in the air...
"God, can You hear me? God, can You see me? God, can You move me?" The last two songs ("Move Me" and "Move Me, Part Two") end like a prayer/worship song, repeating the aforementioned questions to God.
If anyone else said these kinds of things, many of us would dismiss them as words from an outsider looking in. Because of the perspective the members of King's X bring, however, it's more like words from a songwriter who has perspective of the inside, but is looking in from the outside now. Interesting food for thought. Certainly not much on the "encouraging the believer" scale. My first impression was slightly stand-off-ish, as I seemed to sense a "Goodbye, Christian worldview" theme; but subsequent listens pull me in as I try to put the pieces of this musical puzzle together and see it alongside the band's discography. I can't be sure of some of the conclusions I draw, but I'm impressed with the presentation. Maybe the key is in the foreign-sounding song intros...?
Other coverage for this album
Art for the Ears 2000Reviewed by Marco PovervestOkay, the first time I listened to this album I had to laugh. You can hear all kinds of weird ramblings in between songs, like a few in my own language: Dutch. I'm sure some of you will freak out when they hear Achtentachtig Prachtige Grachten or Hottentottententententoonstellingen. Yes, it's Dutch! Well, I'm not reviewing those ramblings so let me introduce you to the music of Please Come Home…The Phantom Tollbooth 2000Reviewed by Josh MarihughSince their early days as The Edge in Houston, Ty Tabor (guitar), Doug Pinnick (bass) and Jerry Gaskill (drums), also known as King's X, have crafted finely-tuned guitar rock and beautifully moving ballads. Their newest album Please Come Home...Mr. Bulbous continues the 11-year tradition in fine style. This, the band's ninth album, opens with a bang. Doug's solid, lower-than-ever bass thump…Similar sounding releases
2001PoundhoundPineappleskunk
2000One CrossClearly Distorted
199577sTom Tom Blues
2003Radial AngelOne More Last Time
1996BlackballSuper Heavy Dreamscape
2001SunshineNecromance
