Consequence of Sound » The Duke and The King http://consequenceofsound.net Think Fast, Listen Slowly Thu, 31 May 2012 16:53:30 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.4-RC1-20950 Album Review: The Duke and The King – The Duke and The King http://consequenceofsound.net/2011/08/album-review-the-duke-and-the-king-the-duke-and-the-king/ http://consequenceofsound.net/2011/08/album-review-the-duke-and-the-king-the-duke-and-the-king/#comments http://c438342.r42.cf2.rackcdn.com//wp-content/uploads/2011/08/kingandduke.jpg Fri, 05 Aug 2011 11:58:09 +0000 Chris Woolfrey http://consequenceofsound.net/?p=140255 When an album begins with the line “If you ever get famous, don’t forget about me/I hope it’s everything that you thought it would be,” it’s easy to imagine that most people might be a little dubious. After all, hasn’t the message been written or sung a hundred times before? Could it ever be sung in a way that was interesting and fresh, ever again? And isn’t the person singing it probably already at least a little famous?

The Duke and The King, who already have a bit of a following in Britain, have collected tracks from their previous two albums for this self-titled U.S release. And indeed, while musically decent, lyrical brilliance is not their forte, at least if this collection is anything to go by. An Americana-infused album of ‘60s and ‘70s influenced songs, The Duke and The King references The Jackson 5 (see “Shaky”, with the line “just come and shake that country ass”) and going dancing with the devil (for this second cliché, watch out for “The Morning I Get to Hell”), while bouncing along nicely on catchy guitar parts and deja vu melodies.

That said, some of the material is really great. “Hudson River”, vaguely reminiscent of an Otis Redding track, is an excellent exercise in soul. “Union Street”, with its slightly flattened snare drum and dwindling vocal line, is a listenable, respectable ballad. “Gloria”, too, is a fittingly sweet sing-a-long with Simon and Garfunkel harmonies, drawing musically on The Byrds and The Band, while “Have You Seen It” promotes a Clapton-esque opening gambit, marking one of the album’s highlights.

Those unbalanced lyrical lines come back to haunt The Duke and The King, though. “Union Street”, for example, sings of the time “when all of New York held its breath/scared to death.” With lines like these, the musically satisfying elements of the album, of which there are ultimately plenty, barely sustain those sweeping, saccharine statements. On the whole, though, The Duke and The King have deserved the praise that many have lavished on them. This is a really pleasing album. Just don’t listen too hard to the words.

]]> The Duke and The King references The Jackson 5 (see "Shaky", with the line “just come and shake that country ass”) and going dancing with the devil (for this second cliché, watch out for "The Morning I Get to Hell"), while bouncing along nicely on catchy guitar parts and deja vu melodies. That said, some of the material is really great. "Hudson River", vaguely reminiscent of an Otis Redding track, is an excellent exercise in soul. "Union Street", with its slightly flattened snare drum and dwindling vocal line, is a listenable, respectable ballad. "Gloria", too, is a fittingly sweet sing-a-long with Simon and Garfunkel harmonies, drawing musically on The Byrds and The Band, while "Have You Seen It" promotes a Clapton-esque opening gambit, marking one of the album’s highlights. Those unbalanced lyrical lines come back to haunt The Duke and The King, though. "Union Street", for example, sings of the time "when all of New York held its breath/scared to death." With lines like these, the musically satisfying elements of the album, of which there are ultimately plenty, barely sustain those sweeping, saccharine statements. On the whole, though, The Duke and The King have deserved the praise that many have lavished on them. This is a really pleasing album. Just don’t listen too hard to the words.]]> 60 http://consequenceofsound.net/2011/08/album-review-the-duke-and-the-king-the-duke-and-the-king/feed/ 0 An Evening with The Felice Brothers at Skidmore College (9/12) http://consequenceofsound.net/2009/09/an-evening-with-the-felice-brothers-at-skidmore-college-912/ http://consequenceofsound.net/2009/09/an-evening-with-the-felice-brothers-at-skidmore-college-912/#comments Mon, 14 Sep 2009 16:00:44 +0000 Drew Litowitz http://consequenceofsound.net/?p=19609 The Felice Brothers have performed at outdoor pavilions, shows with thousands in attendance. They’ve played to large crowds at summer festivals galore. That’s all good and fair, being the great live performers that the guys are. They are certainly suited for playing the likes of Bonnaroo and All Points West with no complaints. But, where they really belong is a place like Falstaff’s at Skidmore College, a tiny venue that was lucky enough to experience the brothers at their best Saturday night. Their ramshackle, twangy, moonshine folk definitely sounds–and for that matter, feels–best in a small, cabin-like upstate venue, where their abundant energy doesn’t have much space to escape; where every clank and pluck can rattle off the walls, and all the hollering and harmonizing can fester. With a fiddle, a guild guitar, a nice drum set, an organ, a washboard, and an accordion, the guys come together to create an undeniably raw, old-time hoedown with every show they play.

Paradoxically so, that disheveled sound is heavily refined. The Felice Brothers have captured the spirit and mood of the music they want to play, the raw and crassness of it all, and cleaned the edges up a bit, without at sacrificing the overall feeling that they convey. They sound like they spent 40 years drinking whiskey and smoking hand rolled cigarettes in damp basements, yet no member is over the age of 30. They are a continuation of who Dylan used to be, and they do a fine good job at keeping up the tradition.

Before The Brothers Felice took to the small stage of Falstaff’s, I had the pleasure of talking with with James Felice, organ/accordion player, for a few minutes. As fans from as far as New Jersey continually approached James as he sat outside finishing his cigarette before our interview, it was clear that Skidmore College–located near the Catskill Mountains in Saratoga Springs, NY–was overly privileged to have such a great band grace the campus. After a last drag, James got up and tried to pick a location to talk with me.  We walked to the dark back of the small venue, James asking “How bout over here?  An interview in the dark.”   That should provide a good enough insight into the way this young band operates. Simply put, they go with the flow… and the flow sounds pretty fucking good.

First off, thanks so much for sitting down with me.

I guess the first thing I have to ask about is the lineup change. Can you shed some light on the situation with Simone leaving for his other project, The Duke and the King, and how it has affected the band chemistry? Is there some bad blood or was it a pretty mutual, understood departure? Does he plan to return?

James Felice: Oh no not at all. He wanted to do his own thing, it was time. He’s getting married and stuff, he wanted to play the music he wanted to play and he’s doing it right now. It was good to have him, but we’ve got a great drummer right now who’s wonderful. No, no bad blood, not at all. He’s my brother, no such thing.

I’ve always wondered, and I’ve wondered this about most bands consisting of siblings, how did you guys become so creatively productive. When did you guys start playing and writing together? Is it ever hard to be in a band with your brothers?

JF: It’s like anybody else, you know. It just happens to be your brother so I guess we’re more sort of in tune with what we’re like and what we’re good at and stuff. But you know, we’re friends too, so we decided we wanted to play music together we just happened to be brothers, it just sort of worked out like that. Not till we were older that we really started playing together at all.

Do you guys get into a lot of fights because you’re brothers?

JF: Fuck yeah, we get into fights. Everybody gets into fights. You know, you got a brother a best friend or your fuckin’ wife or a girlfriend, you get into fights. We get a long pretty good, though.

Mark Twain seems to be present in your work, mostly in the title of your latest album, Yonder is the Clock, and in Simone’s band name, The Duke and the King, where does Twain’s writing fit in with the music of the Felice Brothers? There’s kinda that old time mountain folk vibe in your music.

JF: Yeah, absolutely you know. He’s not really old time, he’s just an amazing writer and he had awesome observations. Towards the end of his life he became a very negative person.  His daughter died and he was very pessimistic and “Yonder is the Clock,” that line is from a short story called, “The Mysterious Stranger” which was a very negative sort of outlook about how god just sort of toys with people and doesn’t really give a shit. Which is sort of deep and is not necessarily what we believe or anything, but it just seemed like a good thing to use. But for Mark—and all those great American writers, like um Hemingway and Faulkner, who came around later—it’s just all very inspirational, some of the best artists in the world, and I think we read a lot of them when we were growing up and it sort of influenced what we like. Everything we grew up with influenced us in some way, you know, whether it’s Mark Twain or Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles or anything. It’s all there somewhere.

New York isn’t really heard in your music sonically, but you seem to have a lot of NY pride (“Penn Station”), wearing Yankees hats while playing, etc. Is it fun to come back to this area to do a show like this?

JF: Yeah, I love playing shows at home. And as for the sound, you know, it’s definitely not New York City sound, but it’s Catskill Mountain Music. And Catskill Mountains are a part of you know, the Appalachians and Woodstock and all that shit. And you know, New York embodies a lot of things, it doesn’t necessarily have to sound like, you know, a Brooklyn indie band or hip hop.

Do you guys feel more connected with upstate New York or with the city?

JF: Oh, yeah. I mean, yeah. I mean both. You know, Upstate’s the home that’s where we grew up, that’s where we live, so. New York City is our city home. But, anywhere you grow up is going to influence your sound.

If I were to describe your sound to somebody I might tell them that you guys were like a sort of Basement Tapes revival. Do you think it’s safe to say you draw a lot of inspiration from Dylan and the Band or do you guys sort of get sick of the comparisons?

JF: I’ve never heard the Basement Tapes, so I don’t know what that sounds like. But, we love Dylan and the band of course, you know, Dylan I think specifically is one of our favorite songwriters. He’s brilliant, obviously. He’s the best. So, yeah, definitely. We’re influenced by the same music they were influenced by, the early American music. The Basement Tapes thing I don’t really understand, cause I never heard it, but . . . if that’s what you think it sounds like that’s cool. If you like The Basement Tapes, if you don’t then, you know.

It’s not a sore subject, though for you guys?

JF: Nah, fuck it, I don’t care. I mean, no one wants to be compared to anything. Everyone wants to feel like they’re original in some way, I know we’re not, obviously, but no one really is. Compare us to anyone you want, I say.

Subsequently, you’ve played with Levon Helm, you’ve been at his midnight rambles… what’s it like to play with somebody like Levon Helm, having spent so much time listening to his music as an aspiring musician. Must be a pretty surreal thing.

JF: It’s a wonderful thing, it’s an amazing thing. It’s um, it really is. It’s inspirational, and it’s humbling, cause you realize how much better they are than you. And it was just cool that he had us there, you know. And I think hopefully we’re going to do it again soon. But you know, it was fun man. He loves music, he loves the same kind of music we love. So it was just fun to be a part of it, you know even in a small way.

]]> First off, thanks so much for sitting down with me. I guess the first thing I have to ask about is the lineup change. Can you shed some light on the situation with Simone leaving for his other project, The Duke and the King, and how it has affected the band chemistry? Is there some bad blood or was it a pretty mutual, understood departure? Does he plan to return? James Felice: Oh no not at all. He wanted to do his own thing, it was time. He’s getting married and stuff, he wanted to play the music he wanted to play and he’s doing it right now. It was good to have him, but we’ve got a great drummer right now who’s wonderful. No, no bad blood, not at all. He’s my brother, no such thing. I’ve always wondered, and I’ve wondered this about most bands consisting of siblings, how did you guys become so creatively productive. When did you guys start playing and writing together? Is it ever hard to be in a band with your brothers? JF: It’s like anybody else, you know. It just happens to be your brother so I guess we’re more sort of in tune with what we’re like and what we’re good at and stuff. But you know, we’re friends too, so we decided we wanted to play music together we just happened to be brothers, it just sort of worked out like that. Not till we were older that we really started playing together at all. [youtube FcVku6bFe-U] Do you guys get into a lot of fights because you're brothers? JF: Fuck yeah, we get into fights. Everybody gets into fights. You know, you got a brother a best friend or your fuckin' wife or a girlfriend, you get into fights. We get a long pretty good, though. Mark Twain seems to be present in your work, mostly in the title of your latest album, Yonder is the Clock, and in Simone’s band name, The Duke and the King, where does Twain’s writing fit in with the music of the Felice Brothers? There’s kinda that old time mountain folk vibe in your music. JF: Yeah, absolutely you know. He’s not really old time, he’s just an amazing writer and he had awesome observations. Towards the end of his life he became a very negative person.  His daughter died and he was very pessimistic and “Yonder is the Clock,” that line is from a short story called, “The Mysterious Stranger” which was a very negative sort of outlook about how god just sort of toys with people and doesn’t really give a shit. Which is sort of deep and is not necessarily what we believe or anything, but it just seemed like a good thing to use. But for Mark—and all those great American writers, like um Hemingway and Faulkner, who came around later—it’s just all very inspirational, some of the best artists in the world, and I think we read a lot of them when we were growing up and it sort of influenced what we like. Everything we grew up with influenced us in some way, you know, whether it's Mark Twain or Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles or anything. It’s all there somewhere. New York isn’t really heard in your music sonically, but you seem to have a lot of NY pride (“Penn Station”), wearing Yankees hats while playing, etc. Is it fun to come back to this area to do a show like this? JF: Yeah, I love playing shows at home. And as for the sound, you know, it’s definitely not New York City sound, but it’s Catskill Mountain Music. And Catskill Mountains are a part of you know, the Appalachians and Woodstock and all that shit. And you know, New York embodies a lot of things, it doesn’t necessarily have to sound like, you know, a Brooklyn indie band or hip hop. Do you guys feel more connected with upstate New York or with the city? JF: Oh, yeah. I mean, yeah. I mean both. You know, Upstate’s the home that’s where we grew up, that’s where we live, so. New York City is our city home. But, anywhere you grow up is going to influence your sound. If I were to describe your sound to somebody I might tell them that you guys were like a sort of Basement Tapes revival. Do you think it’s safe to say you draw a lot of inspiration from Dylan and the Band or do you guys sort of get sick of the comparisons? JF: I’ve never heard the Basement Tapes, so I don’t know what that sounds like. But, we love Dylan and the band of course, you know, Dylan I think specifically is one of our favorite songwriters. He’s brilliant, obviously. He’s the best. So, yeah, definitely. We’re influenced by the same music they were influenced by, the early American music. The Basement Tapes thing I don’t really understand, cause I never heard it, but . . . if that’s what you think it sounds like that’s cool. If you like The Basement Tapes, if you don’t then, you know. It’s not a sore subject, though for you guys? JF: Nah, fuck it, I don’t care. I mean, no one wants to be compared to anything. Everyone wants to feel like they’re original in some way, I know we’re not, obviously, but no one really is. Compare us to anyone you want, I say. Subsequently, you’ve played with Levon Helm, you’ve been at his midnight rambles... what’s it like to play with somebody like Levon Helm, having spent so much time listening to his music as an aspiring musician. Must be a pretty surreal thing. JF: It’s a wonderful thing, it’s an amazing thing. It’s um, it really is. It’s inspirational, and it’s humbling, cause you realize how much better they are than you. And it was just cool that he had us there, you know. And I think hopefully we’re going to do it again soon. But you know, it was fun man. He loves music, he loves the same kind of music we love. So it was just fun to be a part of it, you know even in a small way. ]]> http://consequenceofsound.net/2009/09/an-evening-with-the-felice-brothers-at-skidmore-college-912/feed/ 2 Album Review: The Duke and The King – Nothing Gold Can Stay http://consequenceofsound.net/2009/08/album-review-the-duke-and-the-king-nothing-gold-can-stay/ http://consequenceofsound.net/2009/08/album-review-the-duke-and-the-king-nothing-gold-can-stay/#comments Fri, 14 Aug 2009 07:15:27 +0000 Jessica Dean http://consequenceofsound.net/?p=18465 Nothing Gold Can Stay presents a long-view of life and music: sounds and themes that have been around- and will stay there -- for a long time.]]> In case middle school English class escapes your mind at the moment, in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, the Duke and the King were two con men whom Huck Finn and Tom Sawyer encounter. After extorting the townspeople with their fake Shakespeare, the Duke and the King are found out, tarred, and feathered.

In yet another Felice homage to Mark Twain, (The Felice Brother’s album Yonder is the Clock is also to Twain’s credit), Simone Felice ventures off from his brothers and partners with Robert “Chicken” Burke to offer up their first album as the incarnation The Duke and The King. Ramseur Records (the Avett Brother’s home base) picked up the duo and releases their freshman effort, Nothing Gold Can Stay.

For Felice Brothers fans (many of whom share a story of the first time they saw them which includes a mad-lib of: basement, bar, exposed brick, sweat, whiskey, shirtless, accordion, calamity, harmonica, wow), the first spin of this album will feel like they’ve been had. This version of Simone Felice keeps his shirt on and comes up for air, leaves behind the steamy, fermented, rollicking sounds made with his brothers in favor of a paler, airy, high-altitude folk album that hearkens of Cat Stevens, Simon and Garfunkel, and even Pink Floyd.

The sound is stellar. Lyrically, Felice shifts drastically from narrative to generically reflective, which is probably the biggest disappointment of the album.  Felice is an extraordinarily talented writer (he even penned a novel this year), and hopefully this momentary lapse is a by-product of the season for Felice, who described the album as “the soundtrack of a long fateful winter”. Though for a winter album recorded in the New York Catskills, the sound is surprisingly warm folk.

“If You Ever Get Famous”, with its simple acoustics and honest sentiments, starts off and sets high expectations for the rest of the album. Perhaps a letter to his brothers (though written in the second person), it’s not a far stretch to conclude Felice intended this letter, replete with temporal sentimentality, for his future self.

“The Morning I Get to Hell” shuffles its feet pleasantly, smiling, swaying into an arrival at the most pleasant hell you’ve ever conceived of, complete with Ferris wheel rides.  It’s a water-colored departure from the gritty rawness of the Felice Brothers, and proof that the best folk music can make even damnation sound enjoyable.

“Lose Myself” takes a trippy turn towards the psychedelic, providing some pleasant variety. Burke takes the mic for “Suzanne”, and his pure vocals and twangy guitar are the bright spot to the overly simple (and possibly flirting with banal) lyrics. “Summer Morning Rain” highlights classic Felice harmonies. “Water Spider” catches on instantly, but yet again presents a forlorn outlook on life, veiled by the lighthearted tempo and percussion.

Once you give this record time to settle in, this Duke and King are far from deserving tar and feathers. Should this duo chose to continue, leaving the bodkin on the table, they could put out great sounds.  Nothing Gold Can Stay presents a long-view of life and music: sounds and themes that have been around- and will stay there — for a long time.

Check Out:

]]> The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, the Duke and the King were two con men whom Huck Finn and Tom Sawyer encounter. After extorting the townspeople with their fake Shakespeare, the Duke and the King are found out, tarred, and feathered. In yet another Felice homage to Mark Twain, (The Felice Brother’s album Yonder is the Clock is also to Twain’s credit), Simone Felice ventures off from his brothers and partners with Robert “Chicken” Burke to offer up their first album as the incarnation The Duke and The King. Ramseur Records (the Avett Brother's home base) picked up the duo and releases their freshman effort, Nothing Gold Can Stay. For Felice Brothers fans (many of whom share a story of the first time they saw them which includes a mad-lib of: basement, bar, exposed brick, sweat, whiskey, shirtless, accordion, calamity, harmonica, wow), the first spin of this album will feel like they’ve been had. This version of Simone Felice keeps his shirt on and comes up for air, leaves behind the steamy, fermented, rollicking sounds made with his brothers in favor of a paler, airy, high-altitude folk album that hearkens of Cat Stevens, Simon and Garfunkel, and even Pink Floyd. The sound is stellar. Lyrically, Felice shifts drastically from narrative to generically reflective, which is probably the biggest disappointment of the album.  Felice is an extraordinarily talented writer (he even penned a novel this year), and hopefully this momentary lapse is a by-product of the season for Felice, who described the album as “the soundtrack of a long fateful winter”. Though for a winter album recorded in the New York Catskills, the sound is surprisingly warm folk. “If You Ever Get Famous”, with its simple acoustics and honest sentiments, starts off and sets high expectations for the rest of the album. Perhaps a letter to his brothers (though written in the second person), it’s not a far stretch to conclude Felice intended this letter, replete with temporal sentimentality, for his future self. “The Morning I Get to Hell” shuffles its feet pleasantly, smiling, swaying into an arrival at the most pleasant hell you’ve ever conceived of, complete with Ferris wheel rides.  It's a water-colored departure from the gritty rawness of the Felice Brothers, and proof that the best folk music can make even damnation sound enjoyable. “Lose Myself” takes a trippy turn towards the psychedelic, providing some pleasant variety. Burke takes the mic for “Suzanne”, and his pure vocals and twangy guitar are the bright spot to the overly simple (and possibly flirting with banal) lyrics. “Summer Morning Rain” highlights classic Felice harmonies. “Water Spider” catches on instantly, but yet again presents a forlorn outlook on life, veiled by the lighthearted tempo and percussion. Once you give this record time to settle in, this Duke and King are far from deserving tar and feathers. Should this duo chose to continue, leaving the bodkin on the table, they could put out great sounds.  Nothing Gold Can Stay presents a long-view of life and music: sounds and themes that have been around- and will stay there -- for a long time. Check Out: Buy: Nothing Gold Can Stay ]]> 60 http://consequenceofsound.net/2009/08/album-review-the-duke-and-the-king-nothing-gold-can-stay/feed/ 0