The Ugly Kings - Darkness is my Home Review ⚡️

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The windswept junction of HEAVY blues and ROCK and roll !

The album came in through the front door of the bar and everyone stopped what they were doing to look and listen. This was an album looking to pick a fight, get drunk on cheap whisky, snarl out a broken-hearted ode to heartbreakers, and swagger off into the night to gun the motor of it’s Harley into the rising dawn light, heavy with the blues.

Mean, lean and pristine…the latest release from The Ugly Kings makes a mockery of their moniker as it’s sexy, swaggering, and damn fine looking. Make no mistake, this is no slovenly fuzz fest of backwards-looking detuned walls of fuzz. This is refined, polished, face-punchingly crisp, chromium plated heavy blues meets rock’n’roll. Oh, but not THAT kind of good time rock’n’roll. This is the windswept junction of HEAVY blues and ROCK and roll.

No, this may have the twang and reverb of the Setzer set but it’s been rinsed in the hellish fires of Social Distortion’s tattoos and whisky dirt and trained in the ways of Danzig-ian doom croons. This is rock’n’roll that strides purposefully to the stage, stares you down and lets the ringing notes echo about the room before launching into a neck-straining groove fest of defiant sorrow.

Welcome to “Darkness is my Home”. Have a drink. Pull up a stool. We ain’t going nowhere anytime soon.

How’s it sound ?

Well, for an album entitled “Darkness is my Home” it’s surprisingly spry! This is doom as an emotion rather than a sound, played by the bar band from “From Dusk til Dawn”. Doom that stares into the bottom of a whisky bottle and rides lonesome through the small hours on purring vintage bikes, collar up on its leather jacket.

It can’t be stated enough that this is a polished record. VERY polished. It gleams, it snaps, it crackles, you can almost hear your reflection in it. It’s like Volbeat stopped trying to be Metallica and went back to their roots. And that suits the style brilliantly.

That 50’s rock-infused style matches the riff-driven, groove-filled songs perfectly too, giving the whole album a feeling of honest integrity. That proven formula of cracking drums, reverberating semi-clean guitars and resonating wailing vocal delivery is a winner. This is blues made oh so heavy indeed, but in not relying on the over-used walls of fuzz approach it makes the whole experience more personal…more engaging. There is nowhere to hide. It’s a breath of fresh air.

Why is this album worth listening to?

A sweet and sour blend of upliftingly exhilarating sounds welded to the frame of a determinedly doomy tone and story.
Atmosphere and honesty: songs that leave a mental resonance. Not a stoner time-filler.
The promise of a live experience that will add some dirt to these superb songs, and therefore a fresh experience for fans of the album…rather than repeating what you’ve already got on wax!
It sounds FUCKING AWESOME blasted out LOUD!

In what situation you should listen to this album ?

For what is intrinsically a heavy blues album this really is the perfect aperitif and digestif to a night of filthy fun. This will get your heart racing, head bobbing and throat singing as you head out on the town…and it’ll see you safely home as the dawn light rises, bleary-eyed but euphoric, with a tinge of melancholy.

That being said…can’t WAIT to hear how this plays out live. See you down the front!

Favorite Track

Killin Time

For Fans Of

The Heavy Eyes, Pontiak, Sweat Lodge, The Flying Eyes, King Buffalo, Left Lane Cruiser, 100 Watt Vipers, All Them Witches, Bison Machine, Danzig, Endless Boogie