Greetings, fellow earthlings. Let’s get straight to the punch, then. This week’s Gr8 Unknown is King Tuff.
Lately, I’ve been writing about bands that are just getting their talented feet in the doors of the music industry. King Tuff, though, is already an established band that has made it over that threshold, but might not have made it into your radar.
King Tuff is coined as “neo-garage.” This makes sense, considering the soft punk, raw, metallic sounds of the band.
The first song that captured me, about five years ago, was their song “Bad Thing.” The energy in this song is created by flip-flopping between softer verses that then explode into a energetic chorus, and visa-versa. The guitar and the drums assist in this endeavor.
Throughout the duration of the song, the lyrics talk about a stratocaster; a type of Fender guitar. According to an article about Frontman Kyle Thomas, it was the first guitar he picked up, which serves as part of the inspiration behind the song. The lyrics are as follows: “when I play my stratocaster / shooting those circles of sound / when I’m looking in the mirror / a creature so ugly and wild.”
The rest speaks about looking back on himself and his childhood dreams.
Speaking of Kyle Thomas, it was also his voice that initially attracted me to the band. For a tall, long-haired dude, one would expect a deeper voice. Instead, Thomas’s voice is higher pitched, yet nasally and gravely. It’s a voice that is unusual among most singers, and garage rock/pop in general, yet it’s entirely inviting and attractive.
King Tuff isn’t afraid to take musical risks. In “Black Moon Spell,” the combination of notes take unexpected turns, but it ends up sounding enticing rather than off. The rest of the song itself is just cool in general: “I feel the sickness in your heart / ‘cause you drank my witch’s brew / you were doomed right from the start / and you know I feel it too / oh, got a black moon spell on you.”
The aesthetic of the band is cool, too. The band members sport long, shaggy hair, leather, porn-staches and more. The video below is a good look into their “feelz” (also, the sick af guitar that Thomas has).
Overall, King Tuff is a welcome addition to any laid-back punk or garage playlist. Their music is bound to heat you up for the upcoming cold weather!
(Here is some more of their good stuff.)
