Jamie Lenman - 'King Of Clubs' Album Review

Tracklist:

1. Summer Of Discontent (The Future Is dead)

2. Sleep Mission

3. Like Me Better

4. I Don't Wanna Be Your Friend

5. The Road To Right

6. Kill Me

7. King Of Clubs

Jamie Lenman is a very Grohl like figure. Rising from of the ashes of Reuben, Lenman’s is as much Mark Eitzel as he is Meshuggah. He binds light and dark and fashions songs with depth and character. His art is awkward at times. It can be angsty and inane but it is never without love, heart or soul. 'King Of Clubs' demonstrates all of these faculties and it does so with its intelligent mix of Pop, Noise and Hardcore.

First track 'Summer Of Discontent (The Future Is Dead)' opens with a huge Rage-tastic guitar riff. Heavy drums and low bass notes plough throughout, coupled gothic chants of the ‘future is dead’ - resonating through the halls of hell. As verses subside we hear the raw Helmet-like chorus lift us up to the next level.

This is not the case for ‘Sleep Mission’. This tune creeps in like Aphex Twin and nosedives into Deftones country. How Lenman succeeds in turning a 16-bit video games console into a ‘psychopathic death howl’ is anyone’s guess.

Dystopian themes are prominent in most of these tracks but none more so than ‘Like Me Better’. A song similar in depth to ‘Sleep Mission’, but with shades of optimism sifted through the choruses.

The title track, ‘King Of Clubs’ offers the listener something altogether different. It begins very ‘Post-Rock’, industrial noises coupled with single hi-hit hits. The eeriness creeps on us with just few notes and sounds. Shuffled beats develop, but fall behind the ‘skeletal-like’ bass line. As the song progresses, we suddenly fall into a Mastodon sized void of stillness and span. This closer is as much Post-Metal as Post Rock. A track that is both adventurous, epic and circuitous.

'King Of Clubs' is as much Martin Grech as it is Atari Teenage Riot. Lenman is evidently journeying through some new ideas and new avenues. This writer is very much on board and is looking forward to where it ends up.