Tuesday, June 7, 2011

Review of King Niko


King Niko is a high energy dance rock band from Salt Lake City. They also were the recipients of the 2011 City Weekly Band of the Year. My best comparison for King Niko’s sound is if Brandon Flowers of the Killers underwent a bitter divorce, walked into a bar, and sat in with the house band which so happens to be OKGO. You might get something that sounds like King Niko. City Weekly sited their live show fervor as one of the main contributors to their ultimate success in their band competition, and I can picture rocking out to Ransom Wydner screaming about some apocalyptic break up. Their rapid fire, narrative lyrics seem to focus on darker Memento Mori themes which could be considered unique for the style, which has a slightly brighter angst.



In a time when many rock bands are reinventing themselves to conform to the indie/folk i.e. Ima Robot to Edward Sharp and the Magnetic Zero, it’s nice to hear a band who plain rocks. King Niko appears to be continuing to grow as time goes on. Ultimately, I would like to hear more Michael Jackson influence as noted by Ben Moffat. I’m also a sucker for Prince, so I wouldn’t be disappointed if they all started wearing purple and comparing girlfriends to little red corvettes. My biggest criticism with King Niko is many of the songs(so far) lack the memorable hooks that keep your kid sister humming for days. The Melodies feel a bit linear making it difficult to distinguish from the chorus and verse, but all in all, King Niko appears to be making a long and lasting impression in great SLC.

Randy Moser
                                    

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