{|King Krule|}'s {|You Heat Me Up You Cool Me Down|} is their second live album to be released within three years -- but frontman, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist {|Archy Marshall|} didn't plan it that way. {|King Krule|} were just kicking off ... Read more

{|King Krule|}'s {|You Heat Me Up You Cool Me Down|} is their second live album to be released within three years -- but frontman, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist {|Archy Marshall|} didn't plan it that way. {|King Krule|} were just kicking off a world tour to support the stellar {|Man Alive!|} when the COVID-19 pandemic arrived. They'd managed to get in just three shows -- two in Paris, one in Amsterdam -- before canceling the tour. The best music from these concerts was compiled for this document. The tunes are drawn from {|King Krule|}'s somewhat small catalog -- a healthy portion from {|Man Alive!|} and {|The Ooz|}, with a few faves from {|6 Feet Beneath the Moon|}. Frontman and songwriter {|Archy Marshall|} seemingly agrees with {|Bob Dylan|}'s aesthetic when it comes to performing his own catalog: He rearranges songs constantly to keep them fresh. Opener Out Getting Ribs (from {|Marshall|}'s related {|Zoo Kid|} project) registers as a laconic, emotionally intense ballad with droning saxophones, slowly plucked guitars, and kick drums, while {|Marshall|} allows his lyrics to emerge slowly before the track explodes in conclusion. The Ooz commences as a soul ballad, but turns on its distorted bassline into something abstract, improvisational, and nearly dangerous. Stoned Again lurches forward with fuzzed-out guitars and loopy synth, with hovering deep saxophone and a kinetic drum kit marking a slow, shuffling processional. {|Marshall|} urgently pushes out the words with a punk swagger as the tune gathers force and becomes a gnarly garage rocker. The knotty, razor-wire Anglo-soul in Rock Bottom delivers skittering dynamics and fist-pumping grooves to reveal the twin influences of {|Paul Weller|} and {|Curtis Mayfield|} simultaneously. {|Marshall|} introduces Comet Face by intoning I don't have too much to say, before careening across garage jazz and post-punk, complete with an unhinged sax solo that recalls {|Ted Milton|}'s {|Blurt|}. Baby Blue is as tender as it is desperate. {|Marshall|}'s words emerge hesitantly at first, almost mumbled as he sets out his sad truth: My sandpaper sigh engraves a line/Into the rust of your tongue/Girl I could've been someone, to you/Would have painted the skies blue.... Problem is, she has no idea he's alive. A gritty, double-tracked tenor saxophone rebukes him and takes over after the bridge. Closer Easy Easy is an observation of working-class life as the protagonist struggles to accept the day-to-day grind without losing his mind. The crowd participation is full and enthusiastic, transforming the tune into a Cockney workers' anthem. Guitars blast across the refrain as the drums double-time {|Marshall|}, who is at his honest, sometimes menacing, off-key best. While {|King Krule|} fans will readily consider {|You Heat Me Up You Cool Me Down|} essential listening, there is a serious argument to be made for this as a fine introduction to the uninitiated. ~ Thom Jurek Less