CD Review: Sky King - Morose Tales From The Left Coast

 

CD Review by Joseph Timmons - Xombiewoof Magazine.

Big Bad Blues, with a Whole Lotta Soul, Rocketing to the Top!

What happens when you get together a trio of musicians who have seen all, been all, yet have a whole world more to give - looking into the mirror of the self and telling the story true… you get Sky King!

Sky King is a bad to the bone group that have come together to bring the bar room blues sound back to the masses, with deep meaningful lyrics and well balance sound, this CD Morose Tales From The Left Coast is the assembly of the luckiest 13 tracks of bad news to sweet tunes possible. A musical score of upbeat rhythms often paired with dark and ominous words that make you sit up and notice that life has its ups and downs, but some downs are just down and out.

Now, before you wonder what I may have been smoking, I will lay it down straight for you, Rockin’ Guitar Blues is not supposed to be a happy dance to the stars of Hollywood Boulevard, but a way of saying “be grateful for what you have, cause you may not have it long”. Each track is a testament to the vision of a world gone mad, from the trials of a destitute soul in the song “Poor House” to the feelings of emptiness in “Blue Skies” to lucky number 13 “Alone”, you wonder why would someone write an album that reminds us that there is a cold, cold world out there under the California sun, the answer - because they can, and they do it “Hot Damn Well”.

Walter Morosko, Garth Farkas and Larry “Fuzzy” Knight make up the core of Sky King, and with the talents of “Spirits Rebellious” ( Lee Thornberg, Jimmy “Z”, John “JT” Thomas and Chris Ross on drums) the entirety of the group creates a sound that swells and breaks the beat out. A quote from the CD “The songs are defined by years of paying dues”. So often some come to California, specifically Los Angeles, and they travel with stars in their eyes and think it’s going to be easy to make it big, only some never make it to the 2^nd floor, and some never make it home. Such as in the song “Hollywood”, we hear that the only stars you see are the ones in the pavement or the ones in the sky you see when you’re laid out on the ground and sleeping in the street. Yet, harping on the decline and destitution of the left-turn civilization ( not western, “left=turn”… just keeping with the spirit of the title) Sky Kings tells you that it may be bad, it may get worse, but there is always hope, and no matter how small that hope may be, just a glimpse of it can save your soul.

I wonder if Sky King would say “if you make it in LA, with only one eye, one arm and one leg, at least you made it out alive, and things are truly only half as bad as it could be. So I say you should raise a beer to the air and thank your heavenly host that whatever your problems may be, they could be the lyrics to the next Sky King Song. Morose Tales From The Left Coast is produced by Larry “Fuzzy” Knight for Sky King Productions and available on Blowing Smoke Records in Van Nuys California. Just catch a ride on Sky King’s Rocket, their tank is full and loaded for bear; let their music get you off this 3^rd rock from the sun, Squares Ville of the universe.

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