King Dude at Club Europa

Vaguely gothic heavy folk is an actual genre these days. King Dude distinguish themselves by emphasizing the American Gothic quality of their music (I would have said "Southern Gothic" but they're from Seattle). Certainly the visuals are along those lines. The all-black American flag they used as a backdrop is a big clue, and with those outfits they just have to be going for the Night of the Hunter look. There is plenty of religious imagery in songs with titles like "Jesus In The Courtyard" and "Lucifer's The Light Of The World" as well.

Their music draws upon folk, country, and maybe some early rock-n-roll in their (relatively) optimistic numbers. It does not however seem to be influenced in any significant way by metal, industrial, dark wave or any newer vaguely gothic music. It is certainly not just acoustic black metal. Instead they have created an alternate take on folk music where hope drowned years ago and you would only "smile on your brother" right before you slit his throat, or perhaps decided at the last second not to. Perhaps.

In the past I have only seen T.J. Cowgill perform these songs solo. I couldn't tell you when King Dude became a 3-piece but they sound great. No complaints about that. The three-piece lineup sounds a bit more like a country act. If nothing else adding drums will do that. Perhaps we are seeing the first steps in a new direction for King Dude?

Posted: 12/8/2012 at 2:49pm     Tags: black and white  Club Europa  King Dude