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Wednesday, July 11, 2012

What's going on / Music Wednesday To-Do: King Tuff

Posted by Robert Bell on Wed, Jul 11, 2012 at 9:57 AM

King Tuff plays at Stickyz Wednesday night.

King Tuff plays at Stickyz Wednesday night.

KING TUFF
8:30 p.m. Stickyz. $8.

On "King Tuff," the latest elpee from the King himself — King Tuff, a.k.a. Kyle Thomas, of Vermont — there's a sweetly twisted pop feel that reminds this listener of the sound that the late, great Jay Reatard spent the last year or so of his life mining.

The opening song, "Anthem," is no lie, friends. It lives up to the billing with a truly bitchin' loopy guitar part and some sassy handclaps, and when the second guitar track kicks in with the triumphant harmony, it's like, "Yes, this is an Anthem." The second track, "Alone & Stoned," cements the King Tuff M.O. thusly: "There's nothing better than alone and stoned / listening to music on your headphones." Judging by the Internet's reaction, that's the lyric that jumped out the most on the whole album. But who is anyone to argue with the song's core logic?

"Bad Thing" is primo garage-pop — as good as any West Coast thing by your Ty Segalls or your Sonny and The Sunsets or your The Fresh and Onlys. Album closer "Hit & Run" is a bouncy rave-up that sounds like T. Rex all hopped up on goofballs and true love.

Alas, these are but the album highlights as selected by me. Who knows what treats await the intrepid concertgoer inside the vault of King Tuff? The opening band at this 18-and-older show is Natural Child, a rock 'n' roll trio that hails from Nashville.

After the jump, check out "Bad Thing" by King Tuff.

Tags: King Tuff, Natural Child

        
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