REVIEW: HELL CITY KINGS/I AM WOLF SPLIT

In the beginning, there was Rock and Roll and there was no need for supplemental adjectives. Times were simpler then. But now, longer in the tooth perhaps, but just as vital, we find rock and roll to be like nearly anything out there – requiring clarification. Classic Rock, Hard Rock, College Rock, Indie Rock, Punk Rock, Country Rock, Christian Rock, Math Rock, Art Rock, Progressive Rock, and on and on and on. Even the great one, Billy Joel, in his bemoaning celebration of the back-beat’s diversity (‘It’s Still Rock and Roll to Me), is unable to take a completely rejectionist standpoint, employing himself a number of the quick and dubiously descriptive labels on which we all rely for such things as the sound of white boys playing with skinny ties.

Now old enough to be teased about its age with a birthday party of black balloons and greeting cards with instructions on ear-hair grooming, Rock and Roll, as an unaccompanied descriptive label, has gone full circle post-modern. Originally, “Rock and Roll” was slang from the Black Venacular to mean sex (‘rock’ being ‘shake up’ as in “rock the boat” and ‘roll’ being an English term for the nasty in use for hundreds of years, such as “roll in the hay”). So, while we may have it shatterpainted onto our brains the third part of the phrase “Sex, Drugs and….”, its pretty unlikely that very man of us drop the needle on a Roy Orbison LP and think of it as Sex Music.

No. Nowadays, Rock and Roll, and a description for a particular form of rock music, has come to describe an approach to the genre which hyper-embodies the particular cultural connotations and myths associated with the phenomenon. Sex and drugs are a part of this. So is hard living, fast dying, deals with the devil, a general toughness, the preference for volume and directness over subtlety and a predilection for living by one’s own anti-societal rules with the consequences not generally rising to the necessity of changing one’s behavior. Banging your head for an example to put meaning to our Liberal Arts mumbo jumbo? Go pick up a copy of the Hell City Kings/I am Wolf split 7”.

On it, the Kings put forth two convincing exhibits as to why they are among Houston’s best in Chuck Berry-ish parent frightening, popping up seamlessly in any coctail party (ok, Jaeger and Lone Star drinking binge) where Rock and Roll re-invigorators like Turbonegro and The Murder City Devils would be welcome. Their contributions to the split, ‘Soundtrack to the Apocalypse’ and ‘Rock it Like You Talk It’ are maximizing in their attitude, invigoratingly straight-forward in their structure and positively uninterested in navel-staring lyrical contemplation on topics such as the loss of a favorite cardigan. Streets run with blood; the devil comes calling; the fight of your life; switchblades, freight-trains and dead-end roads. The guitars blister from the heat of their licks and the gain of their overdrive; the drummer is not taking it easy.

I Am Wolf is a perfect pairing for when you flip the acetate, even though there is far greater temptation to throw the word ‘punk’ into one’s description of them (you are free to disagree – anyone who owns Damaged only so they can play ‘TV Party’ at hipster-dance parties is far from qualified to say what is and is not punk rock). Though with song titles alone (‘Devil in You’ and ‘Drinking and Thinking’) IAW lay out a convincing and fun Rock and Roll argument that refuses to use coasters on nice furniture. It too is ragged, most likely does not closely monitor compliance with the FDA food pyramid and is definitely not on a first name basis with their local drycleaner. Recommended.

The Hell City Kings/I Am Wolf split is available online from Interpunk, and features screened artwork designed by local poster hero Give Up. You can catch the Hell City Kings June 9th at Rudyard's with Whorehound. I Am Wolf's next Houston outing is June 26th with Looser Life at Notsuoh.