Skeletons and The King of All Cities hairs to the throne
Words Rich Hanscomb
There’s a beguiling narrative thread, linear or not, that runs through, Lucas, the sophomore effort from gonzo-psych New York City avant-rockers, Skeletons and The King of All Cities. The band’s backbone, Matt, picks up the story…
“I’d been having these dreams about hair - one where my head hair and my pubic hair were long, beautiful curls like Goldilocks’, but it was just falling out every time I touched it.”
He proceeds to describe his brother being sent to a school in the Dominican Republic, undergoing a personality changing haircut, and giving serious contemplation to building a house in the potential utopia that is Lucas, Kansas…
“Everyone was talking about how different my brother was after he cut his hair, which seemed to mirror my dreams,” he continues. “I had written a song called ‘The Giant Broom’ that was about a king who promises to sweep away his people’s ‘unwanted’. All these elements were coming together into one idea - a King Herod/Prodigal Son/Alice in Wonderland story, with other stories and concepts intersecting.”
I suggest to Matt that the new album sounds like a less irritating Broken Social Scene, but he’s having none of it. It’s ‘hippy’ in the way that’s fashionable right now, but it has real depth and longevity. Cinematic in scope yet intimate, Lucas is a unique proposition.
So… the band’s inspirations?
“Evan Parker, Joey Baron, Phill Niblock, Oliver Lake - mind-blowing!” exclaims Matt. “And I’ve recently gotten a bunch of records like Call Me by Al Green, Fresh by Sly, Curtis by Curtis Mayfield and Black Woman by Sonny Sharrock. But my favourite thing of late is probably Trapped in the Closet. Especially chapters 13-22.”
We’ve got R. Kelly to thank, then. Him and Skeletons’ loose’n’live philosophy:
“We never force songs. I just play until something sticks, or I think of words over a period of time until I can’t forget them. Then we piece the parts together - work on them sort of like a sculpture. People seem to think we’re ‘messy’, but really there’s never any laziness involved. Just maybe a bit of mischief.”
You’ll be able to experience this aural audaciousness in the flesh soon as they embark on a mammoth European tour. Indeed, live performance is integral to the band.
“It’s a necessary exorcism of sorts,” says Matt. “Life on tour is simple: you drive until you play and you get totally focused on the music, striving for those moments you only get playing music, or during sex, or when eating a really good meal you just cooked, or when you cash your paycheck after a long month of work.”
