Posted on 07/17/2008
The one phrase to sum up this rocking, rolling, sweaty and sticky 60’s R&B revival: YEEEEOOOOWWWWW!!!!

At least that’s what you’re going to find yourself yelling while listening to The Supreme Genius of King Khan and the Shrines. The album, a “best of” collection of tracks from their pre-Vice Records signing, is more than just a “best of” of the band, it’s going to make your “best of the year” list in December, too. Think of what you loved from Stax Records releases and other 1950s/60s energetic and southern soul singers: gravely, smoked-drenched singing, buzzing horns and simplistic bass, and then when the white boys got involved, feedback and lo-fi drenched guitars. King Khan and the Shrines, a Berlin-by-way-of-Montreal-and-Atlanta based band, loves all of this too, and create music that if you won’t immediately write off for its retro quality, is pretty damn fun and amazing. Think the Dirtbombs’ excellent 2001 release Ultraglide in Black, but with all original songs.

It’s not like other bands haven’t attempted to make albums and sounds like the ones on The Supreme Genius of… recently, but with King Khan’s vocal deliver, he blows all the others away. Not afraid to yell, he does it often, and it is a quite satisfying yell at that. His horn section also keeps up their end of things, never quite taking over, but complimenting the overall sound perfectly.

Although it serves as a great introduction to all of the pitchfork reading, swear-by-Vice-and-Sub-Pop’s-taste music listeners out there, this album suffers from some of the same problems as many other “best of’s:” It’s not quite an album, and not all of the great tracks are there. Sure, they change the tempo up a bit with the slow-burning “Fool Like Me,” and the witty “Took My Lady to Dinner,” but for listeners trying to get a real feel for the band, checking out their 2007 release What Is?!, especially the track “The Ballad of Lady Godiva,” is highly recommended.

But as stated, The Supreme Genius of… does serve as a good introduction to a much-slept on band, even if the breakneck pace gets a little tiring by the closing track. For further listening, King Khan’s other project, the more simplistic, guitar-and-drums-combo The King Khan & BBQ Show is also recommended. And definitely try to catch the band live this summer—there’s a great video featuring Dave Davies of the Sun Ra Arkestra floating around on Youtube.

- Michael Drohan