Duel!: Kingmaker Vs The Divine Comedy

Kingmaker are kind of awful. Here are some bad things about them:

1. 'Ten Years Asleep' getting acclaimed as intelligent and satirical - people said it was another 'Subterranean Homesick Blues'. No, *they really did*. Just think of the lyrics - 'It couldn't have happened in another world... it wouldn't have happened to a nicer planet... [...] so don't pretend to care if you don't care'. Sing with a sneer and some goons think it's meaningfully sardonic. But really it's *meaningless*.

2. In general their lyrics exemplify a peculiar tone of vague pseudo-intelligence that has often typified indie music since the Smiths and which no-one has ever quite pinned down. (This is *not* a slur on the Smiths, it need hardly be said - I am talking about lazy uninspired careerist dismally failed would-be imitators.) Shed Seven and Sleeper are both other examples. Think of Sleeper's 'She's a good girl / But everyone said she was a goddess / They've got a Rolex / Telling the same time...'. Again, sung as though meaningful. But *meaningless*. You can fill in your own Shed Seven examples. And your own Kingmaker examples. Look at any KM lyric sheet and you'll see what I mean.

3. Relatively leaden music, and

4. Bad, whining vocals. I don't much like it when vocalists seem to be shouting or sneering instead of singing. That's kind of understandable live, but not in the studio. (There are exceptions, I suppose - Dylan, Strummer?)

On the other hand, I was listening to a KM CD recently (!!) and I found myself surprisingly, grudgingly impressed by 'You And I Will Never See Things Eye To Eye'. Absurd, I know. Could this be their Scooby-Doo single?

The Divine Comedy, on the other hand... smooth where KM are rough, ostensibly very different. But, I think, equally appalling. They have one good point: they take melody seriously. I mean, their songs seem to display an effort to write a good melody, rather than just pluck a refrain out of the air. But for one thing, I still don't *like* those melodies, and on top of this there are

1. Hannon's voice 2. The sickly backing 3. The way-overrated lyrics - again the KM effect?

to contend with, and

4. A nasty sneering attitude, exemplified by the way 'National Express' bids to mock the stupidity and fatness of 'ordinary people'.

I think I dislike the DC more than KM. But the choice is kind of skewed by the fact that no-one takes KM seriously anymore, and some people seem still to take the DC very seriously. That makes the DC seem more like a relevant and significant 'enemy'.

Didn't 'Duel' used to be a Freaky Trigger knockout competition to see which band was worst?

happy days...

Is there something wrong with "mocking the stupidity and fatness of ordinary people"? It's a standard comedy trope in the UK.

Pretty sure I hate The Divine Comedy more than any other band ever.

more than my life story?

Kingmaker reassessed.

https://thequietus.com/articles/28686-kingmaker-everything-changed-1991-1995-review

I hadn't realised the recent Kingmaker reunions hadn't involved Loz. not that I was planning to go anyway.

also interesting about the record company problems with the 2nd album. I wasn't really a fan, probably liked a handful of songs across the first 2 albums. an ilxor recently told me the last album is actually the best one but I've never heard any of it

I hadn't realised the recent Kingmaker reunions hadn't involved Loz. not that I was planning to go anyway.

...huh. I'm trying to imagine this.

I was a massive Kingmaker fan aged 12 (might be me you're talking about there CP?) was ashamed of it for a bit, but have long gotten over it, yes, the first half of their final LP is just brilliant, a shame it was released when everyone either hated them, didn't care or both.

ha yeah it was you

Listening to it again now, it's like, yes, his voice is still a bit annoying and his lyrics are still a bit pretentious and overwrought, but there's so much passion and pain there, and he's finally finding his voice, just as everyone has stopped listening - the songs are all pretty sad and desperate, and the fact nobody is listening any more just amplifies this. I know lots of people are not going to be into it, but genuinely, first 18 minutes of this (and last 5) are still brilliant.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=12r_vs4HfPw

also, this interview is fantastic, and explains why he suddenly quit it all forever.

http://www.kingmakerband.com/interview-with-loz-hardy/

Really Scrape the Sky caught my ear on the radio but I didn't buy the album, the second album's singles didn't provide any greater incentive. For some reason though I bought the third album. I'm not as enthusiastic as Camaraderie but I love the guitar tone and the heavy wah-wah use and it's certainly as good as any other album by a second tier britpop band. I probably never need to listen to the album again but In the Best Possible Taste Pt 1 does the pop + string quartet trick pretty well and I would keep Frustrated Gangster over 99% of the output of that benighted era.

Only song I particularly remember from being all over the Radio 1 breakfast show is Saturday's Not What It Used To be, which seems to have stiffed at a lowly 63.