Play Hard Records 1989. DEC 14
Angry men with guitars and an angry woman with an electric violin is very good combination, so much so that this has rarely strayed far from my turntable. The manic violin playing is so good that it’s hard to see why more bands don’t use them. I guess violins are difficult to play.
King Of The Slums were a Manchester band who got the sort of underground recognition (and airplay from Peel) you’d expect for a band of this calibre, although they sounded like no-one else, especially in 1989, and never got any sort of mainstream success.
The first track, Fanciable Headcase is an absolute monster. I defy you to sit still while it’s playing, and not to play it again immediately and then bore all your friends with it. It really is that good.
I’m not sure why there’s a picture of horrible racist Enoch Powell on the cover – maybe it fueled the anger on the record. The union jack behind him is pink. Haven’t figured that one out either, but I expect Enoch Powell was also homophobic so maybe that’s why.
Everything by the band is of course long deleted, although according to their truly dreadful web site, there are a few bits and pieces available on itunes.
4shared
http://www.*******.com/rar/JiE3uCOo/KOS_VBB.html
Oh my god, you weren\\\’t lying about the website! Good post. though. Have you got the earlier England\\\’s Finest Hopes EP? I have the vinyl, but not the transfer technology, so thanks for your efforts so far.
Glad you’re enjoying the blog. No, I don’t have that EP. All I have is the Dandelions LP which I’ll rip at some point and a couple of later 12″ singles. What’s your EP like? If it’s as good as the one I’ve posted here and it’s not too expensive maybe I’ll buy a copy to post.
[…] swap instruments regularly, including a violin which is sadly under-appreciated in rock music (King Of The Slums being a notable exception as well as the obvious Velvets stuff). Other bands I’ve seen do […]
[…] been too long since I posted anything by this band, so here’s their debut album. It’s more of the same, not that there’s anything […]