The King in Mirrors should definitely win the “sticking to your guns” local music award. Long after many of their peers have either given up on music or have morphed into cover bands, Rich May is still creating sounds inspired by the bands that got him excited about music in the first place. And the result of resolutely sticking with the plan is that they have an e.p. Little Voices, being released by Take A Nap Records even as we speak.
Just as with his last band, Baby Train, Rich knows what he wants the band to be about and the fickle hand of fashion and hipsterish “now-ness” is the last thing on his mind. That said, King in Mirrors is no nostalgic pastiche, no stuck in the past homage to his teenage record collection and although it is easy to see where his influences lie, Go-Betweens, Echo and The Bunnymen, The Cure, Orange Juice and all of that post-punk, underground pop, this is the sound of that scene not merely resurrected but moving forward into a bright and productive future.
Great pop hooks intertwine with an understated rock urgency and remind us that it is at the counterpoint of the two genres that some of the best music is made, mixing the credibility of the latter with the infectiousness and danceability of the former.
Pre-release teasers for the e.p. have been testing the market and I have to say that the title track alone easily lives up to their previous high point, Rolling in The Sun, hinting that Little Voices will be nothing short of an alt-pop master class brimming with groove and accessibility.
