| Five Star Dive Bar - King Country | |
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Reviewed by Kathy Coleman
Every so often a group comes along that wants to bridge the ever-growing gap between
"commercial" country music and the real thing. This is one of those groups.
Led by front man Frank Sullivan, King Country is a surefire real country act, but this disc
is so carefully polished and produced it presents itself as squeaky-clean as any of the psuedo-
country coming out of Nashville. It gives the album a strange feeling, but boy, you can't deny
this here is country music.
Sullivan is a fine, fine singer, with a country sound that can't be beat. With his pure
country voice delivering good lyrics to excellent melodies, there's little to complain about with
this disc. It's some terrific stuff for a real country fan, that's for sure. Amusingly enough, King
Country even comes with its own theme song, track 6 on the disc, Sullivan's homage to the kind
of music they do country. Pure and rootsy and straight down to the bone.
A fine combination of fun lyrics, good melodies, and strong vocals make "King Country"
a terrific listen. Sullivan is a terrific songwriter, and when he does covers he chooses from the
best, including even a really terrific cover of Bob Dylan's "If Not For You."
These boys are real easy to like. I'd love to hear a little more of the grit the smooth
production appears to have polished out, because I think they're probably, for all the clean lines,
FAR "too country" for today's Nashville. In any case, they're more than worth the listen.
Song List:
Album cover and MP3 clips courtesy of King Country's Official Website.
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