Punk and Poetry
by The King Blues
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User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 1 out of 1
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 1
  3. Negative: 0 out of 1
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  1. Hackskeptic
    Jun 25, 2011
    7
    For all its worthy intent and indeed decent songs, the political protestations that fill "Punk & Poetry" will remain on the distant boundaries of societal consciousness, highlighting the malaise that exists within the music industry and media outlets that provide a service to an audience blinkered by compartmentalization. 30 years ago, mixed into daytime radio schedules alongside facileFor all its worthy intent and indeed decent songs, the political protestations that fill "Punk & Poetry" will remain on the distant boundaries of societal consciousness, highlighting the malaise that exists within the music industry and media outlets that provide a service to an audience blinkered by compartmentalization. 30 years ago, mixed into daytime radio schedules alongside facile Bucks Fizz and Dollar tunes came the doom laden anthem to social unrest and urban degeneration; The Specials magnificent number one hit, "Ghost Town". Sadly, very much like the U.S., radio has splintered into too many musical factions and the likelihood of Chris Moyles playing radical, restless and thought provoking pop songs is about as likely as "comedy" Dave actually delivering a laughable line. It's quite probable that an introduction to The King Blues has come via a show, public demonstration or internet forum. And yet, "The Future's Not What It Used To Be" from this album has all the frustrated, agitated ska laced pop gush of "Ghost Town" from all those years ago. The problem is, few will hear it, and the real tragedy is that a quality album will be lost to the latest nonsense that fills our pop charts.
    "Punk & Poetry" is familiar in the eclecticism Johnny "Itch" Fox and cohorts have continued to reproduce since their debut "Under The Fog", but the difference here is that the delivery is more impassioned and the quality carries greater consistency than ever before. The thrilling "We Are F%*king Angry" is as adrenalized and wicked as the title suggests, filled with reference to class wars and riotous public retaliation to the ills of blue collar life. "Set The World On Fire", "Headbutt" and "Does Anybody Care About Us" are razor sharp doses of refreshing pop punk; spiky, breathless, yet still retaining effective melodies. There are minor slips, with the patronizing observation to the feminists cause ("5 Bottles Of Shampoo"), and "Everything Happens For A Reason" steers far too closely to McFly territory but overall the honesty and passion of the collection overcomes the stumbles.

    Let's hope that "Punk & Poetry" gets a Mercury nomination. Maybe then, it will get the level of attention it deserves. http://hackskeptic.com    … Expand

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
76

Generally favorable reviews - based on 7 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 6 out of 7
  2. Mixed: 1 out of 7
  3. Negative: 0 out of 7
  1. AllMusic
    Dec 21, 2011
    70
    Punk and Poetry, sees them come out fighting with more fervor, more radical spirit, and more anger than ever.
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  2. musicOMH.com
    Jun 9, 2011
    80
    The King Blues are much better when they're angry and making music to riot to.
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  3. Rock Sound
    Jun 9, 2011
    80
    Whatever's being said, though, what's great about The King Blues is that they're always unashamedly frank; with a frontman who wouldn't dream of diverging his accent or over-developing his message, they've set storming music to a totally concise, relevant stream of consciousness.
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