New Music: Monterey Grows on The King's Head

Bob Giusti

When New Jersey quartet Monterey contemplated their latest release The King's Head, they envisioned a recording that would showcase the intensity of their live shows. They chose songs that were crowd favorites as they traveled up and down the region honing their craft.

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The result is a no filler, four song EP that captures the band's urgency while maintaining a diverse songwriting skill set that shows the band has a sound without sounding the same. Kudos must go to producer John Albino(whose worked with Kiss, The Pretenders and Paul McCartney's Wings) who knew how to polish the material and keep an anthemic edge to the sound.

The songs deliver an intricate interplay of grinding guitar riffs and diverse melodies and at the same time use a punk rock sensibility in the classic context of the genre.

The guitars on the opener Brainfreeze, for example, almost sound like Jimi Hendrix's intro to Foxy Lady until it kicks in with something The Edge would have felt comfortable playing on U2's Boy. The vocals have a swagger snarl that can still morph into catchy choruses.

While I would normally be suspect of a band using diversity to "discover" themselves, Monterey have clearly discovered the craft of songwriting on The King's Head. Go to their website for a free listen to this clever concoction.

Website: www.MontereyTheBand.com Facebook: facebook.com/MontereyMusicNJ Twitter: @MonteryeMusic Email: [email protected]

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