“I usually like to describe it as a Japanese animation monster tearing things up with eight dicks.”
-King Khan, Turn It Down
Professing love for George Clinton and Sun Ra, King Khan and The Shrines have arrive in the United States, and if they have their way, funky voodoo gospel soul will move you for all eternity. This band from Montreal have been around for some time and just begun their US tour! Bring your skulls and suits because this one is for the pros.
In 1995, King Khan, then bassist for The Spaceshits, founded the secret lodge of the Kukamongas where he mixed things with Allen Ginsberg, Sophie Crumb, Billy Childish, Dickie Peterson, and the defunct magician “The Great Antonio.” In Germany in 1999, Khan didn’t return with The Spaceshits and founded the soul band The Shrines.
Gaining notoriety for wild shows, The Shrines has finally gained enough momentum to come to the US and bless us with their shamanistic crooning, which includes a horn section, a mad man playing a Korg synthesizer, a two piece percussion unit, a guitarist and bassist, a go-go cheerleader, and of course, King Khan himself handling vocals, mojo, and the stage. To see it happen is like watching homages to the history of funk and soul—King Khan & The Shrines weave classic rhythms together with their own unique mix of voodoo and gutter culture.
King Khan introduced himself to New York by letting out a blood curdling scream, and from that point on, the audience was his. He jumped off the stage and into the crowd embracing the raw energy. The band didn’t miss a que, laying down solid beats with new riffs conjured up by infinity and the haunting humanity of being real and facing the brutal world before your eyes. For an hour, they drank with us and danced like possessed angels from a messed up heaven.
Dedicating songs to “homeless people that end up in all food Chinese and Indian” and honoring love and humanity is what brought King Khan to the people’s heart. He is like the guy that’s a friend of a friend, and you can’t help but embrace him for all that he is—strikingly bizarre and beautiful, able to kill without a moment’s notice and has the ability to soothe the savage within us with sweet, sweet soul.
King Khan and The Shrines has just signed with Vice Records and released the compilation The Supreme Genius of King Khan & The Shrines, and they’re on tour. Check their MySpace for tour dates!
Photos by The Fleece
