In an effort to alleviate the shitty weather we've been having recently, and to kick start this here blog back to life, I'm kicking things of with what would be a perfect summer jam, where it not for this rain. God bless British summer time.
Formed in 1999 in Germany after the demise of his previous band The Spaceshits, King Khan put together a big band in that age old soul tradition and named them The Shrines. Since then they've released 3 full length albums, the latest being 2007's What Is!? on German-based label Hazelwood, which coincidentally features today's song entitled 'Welfare Bread'.
Blending your typical soul influences of James Brown and Sun Ra with a subtle dose of garage rock, King Khan & The Shrines sound like a vintage 60s group but with added punk rock feel. Built around a simple horn riff, laid back drums and some tasty falsetto, 'Welfare Bread' is a love song about trust, faith and bread. Written about King Khan's wife, the chorus suggests that put more faith in your partner and to try and be little more carefree, with the couplet "you don't have to pay your bills anymore/girl you just got to eat my welfare bread". If there were every a song to encourage people to start claiming benefits, it could be this one. So it's probably a good thing that King Khan & The Shrines are pretty unknown. Having said that, they were signed to Vice at the end of last year, so you could soon be seeing lines of hipsters snaking out of your local dole office very soon. And that's without factoring in the lack of media and graphic design jobs available due to the credit crunch.
Back on topic, I would like to finish by pointing out that in the time it's taken for me to write this blog entry, it's gone from being dead sunny to absolutely pissing it down. If only I'd brought a coat to work.
King Khan & The Shrines - "Welfare Bread"
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