Custom Kings - GreatEscape

Thu 9th Sep, 2010 in Music Reviews

Melbourne riff meisters the Custom Kings are back with a poppy collection of tunes that should bring you into Spring and Summer with a glow better than any tanning bed can provide. Great Escape is their long-awaited follow-up to the critically acclaimed At Sea from 2007.

Wild Leaves the first track on this release, gives us harmonies and a tune that reminiscent of Teenage Fanclub. Following this with Sunday, a song that seems to be coated in sixties sugary pop, makes your ears sit up and listen. These boys seem to be developing quite a palette of sounds.

Where At Sea may have been more diverse in the styles, Great Escape has really shown the Custom Kings focusing on this gorgeous pop sensibility. The production takes you back to another time. This is not a nostalgia trip. It is the sound of a group that is truly taking some risks with their fan base and creating music that could end up in that timeless bucket.

Who Will Be The One and Forward (which seems to take on an Allman Brothers slant at times) are catchy tracks. Sprinkle in the slower title track; the rocking Heart Go Cold (reminiscent of Blind Melon); and the gorgeous Indigo and you have an album that hits all the correct buttons. Most importantly it is tasteful and it is Australian and should be on replay as often as possible this long, hot summer ahead.