With the resurgence in popularity of punk rock, it’s not surprising to see more and more punk rock releases on the scene. Having never heard of The King’s Kids before, a quick Google search provided me with a little bit more of information on the band. Set Sail and Seek is the band’s second full length album. Haling from Salinas, California, the band was formed in 2004 by singer Jason Martinez and guitarist Josh Galvan and launched their debut album in summer 2008. The band is rounded out by Lupe Gutierrez on bass and Milo Zavala on drums.
Set Sail and Seek contains 14 short t, yet catchy and fun, punk rock songs that remind me of the old school punk of the early 80’s and perhaps the late 70’s on occasion. Most songs are between 2-3 minutes in length and are pure rock-n-roll!
The CD kicks off with “Rise Up”, which has a rock-n-roll start, then kicks into punk rock singing /snarling, complete with the background gang vocals “ooohs and aaahhhss”. This song is a good example of standard punk rock fare. It doesn’t offer anything new or exciting to the genre, but it does contain a great guitar solo which caught me a bit of guard as you don’t typically hear a lot of guitar solos in this style of music. At the end, they chorus repeats several times “Today is the day that the Lord has made!”
As we move into the second track, titled “So Much More”, it immediately kicks off with the punkish guitar sound, and rocks it from the very beginning. Snarling and gritty rock-n-roll with attitude, gang vocals on the chorus, with a clear and concise message in the lyrics during the track: “Tortured by Society, Ridiculed by Everyone, You always thought it would end this way, But The Road has just begun”, sick of all this world of lies, before you say your last goodbyes, Christ died for all your sin, don’t fight it Let Him In!”.
“6 AM” starts off with a melodic guitar melody and is a mid-tempo tune, while “Trust” is a much faster paced song that starts out with vocals and drums before the heavier guitar and bass kick in for full chaos! This is the way I remember punk, chaotic and fast!
“Unfinished Road”, the fifth track on the album, is another typical mid-tempo standard punk fare. “Tomorrow Today” begins with guitar riffs and bass drum kicks, but then kind of slows down to a much slower paced song that what’s been heard thus far. Quite a memorable chorus: “So keep your head up in the sky/Stand your ground and you’ll be alright/I’ve got the key and I’m walking with my Lord/And when the stars fall from the sky/I kiss my love and I say goodbye/Don’t worry I’m walking with my Lord”. With very clear vocals, the song is uplifting to the spirit. “Clean Face In A Dirty Place” is another up-tempo punk rock tune, not quite as chaotic as “Trust” but still good rock-n-roll music. “Skies await”, track 8, is more up-tempo rock -n-roll with gang vocals on the chorus and fast drumming in the chorus, lead guitar work, and an overall fun song. “The Whold Picture”, “Jim Braddock”, which is a live song, “Heavens Rejoice” and “See Dad Shine” are again all standard punk rock fare, nothing new is brought to the table, but the songs are written and executed well.
The 13th track, titled “Hoisted Anchors” is a fun and fast song about “fishing for the King of the rocks”. The album ends with the much slower, acoustic song “The Lighthouse”.
Overall, “Set Sail and Seek…” is a solid punk rock album, and as I stated there is nothing new added to the genre here, most of the songs are well written and perfomred, and I really enjoyed the lyrics for several of the songs. If I had to select a stand-out track, it would probably be”Trust” as it is the most chaotic punk rock song on the album. If you are a huge punk rock fan, then you should probably pick this one up. If you like punk rock but not a huge fan, or are new to the genre, then I would probably pass on this one and check out something else such as “This One Goes to Seven” by The Absolved. For fans of The Sex Pistols, The Clash, The Ramones
Written by Thrasher777 [Brian]
Rating: 7 out of 10
Tracks:
1. Rise Up
2. So Much More
3. 6 a.m.
4. Trust
5. Unfinished Road
6. Tomorrow Today
7. Clean Face in a Dirty Place
8. Skies Await
9. The Whole Picture
10. Jim Braddock
11. Heaven’s Rejoice
12. See Dad Shine
13. Hoisted Anchors
14. The Lighthouse
Band Members:
Jason Martinez – Vocals
Josh Galvan – Guitars
Lupe Gutierrez – Bass
Milo Zavala – Drums
Record Label: Thumper Punk Records, 2011