A Kingdom, 1984, and the Quest for ALL
I don’t know about anyone else, but I am completely exhausted.
Pick of the Week: Kingdom by A Vulture Wake
Today (June 10, 2022) A Vulture Wake dropped their latest EP Kingdom and it RULES! Kingdom, the band’s third release and the follow-up to 2019’s Fall Prey EP, is the beginning of a new chapter for the band. This time around, singer/guitarist Chad Price (ALL, Drag the River) is joined by Oklahoma’s own Dave Klein on bass (They Stay Dead, plus ex-Black Flag, Screeching Weasel, Wretch Like Me, Euclid Crash) and John Hernandez on drums (They Stay Dead, ex-Wretch Like Me, Euclid Crash, The Lunch Bunch). And the result is absolutely, brutally powerful!
The six-song EP is the perfect blend of elements of punk, metal, and prog rock, punctuated by killer hooks and Price’s ALLways mighty vocals. This band truly stands on its own, but also scratches the itch left behind in the absence of Price’s previous band ALL.
Press release —
Midwest Rockers A Vulture Wake hit harder, darker and more soulful on the ‘Kingdom’ E.P., their sophomore effort and first of two releases slated for 2022 - Produced, Engineered & Mixed by Mike Kennerty (Direct Hit, Red City Radio, The Copyrights) and lauded as sounding “exactly how I thought it would sound” by Fat Michael Burkett.
‘Kingdom’ - out June 10, 2022 - is lyrically dystopian while building a feeling of hope and victory - all under the mantra of “Do No Harm; Take No Shit.”
Their latest single ‘Red’ is a rallying cry for the people and a punch in the gut to the “Cult of Cocks” spreading the disease of dread & deceit across nations of souls reaching for hope. Streaming worldwide on April 18, 2022 and preceding the release of the ‘Kingdom’ E.P. in June, ‘Red’ shrouds a wicked battle for righteousness with a danceable cloak of hooks and pop-laden pith.
Rethinking Wonder Woman 1984
I love 2017’s Wonder Woman but its sequel 2020’s Wonder Woman 1984 is a bit of a different story, as I laid out in my review from my very short-lived comics podcast Sacred Panels.
Then I came across this video by Implicitly Pretentious and now I’m starting to reassess my opinion.
Now I still need to rewatch the film, so I’m going to get back to you once I do and let you know if my opinion has changed.
One Band, 5 Songs
"We all know that ALL is the band guilty of not being the Descendents." -- Bill Stevenson
ALL formed in 1987 when Descendents' lead singer Milo Aukerman left the band to pursue a career in science. The remaining members, drummer Bill Stevenson, guitarist Stephen Egerton, and bassist Karl Alvarez, decided to soldier on and were joined first by former Dag Nasty vocalist Dave Smalley and later by Scott Reynolds and Chad Price. Between the years 1988 and 2001, the band released nine full-length studio albums, two live albums, and one EP. On top of that, ALL is one of my favorite artists of all time.
That’s It For Now
Be safe. Be kind. And…