Album Review: King Cannons - The Brightest Light

Before grabbing live audiences by the scruffs of their blue-collared necks, King Cannons' frontman Luke Yeoward earned his punk-rock stripes busking and boozing in New Zealand dives. Rounding out the King Cannons lineup with an equally angst-fuelled group of guys and a gal, the Melbourne-via-Auckland six-piece swiftly garnered a steadfast following doing what they do best in the live setting: reincarnating music for the working man with raw, honest vocals and punchy rockabilly-infused punk. Two EPs later, debut album, The Brightest Light, harnesses this intensity and delivers a proud take on their self-proclaimed brand of 'soul'n'roll'.

Yeoward's stamp is all over this record; his delivery is honest and forceful but capable of variation, spitting at times and defeated at others. References to Bruce Springsteen are inevitable and true; Stand Right Up, Too Young and the title track all channel The Boss and his knack of soundtracking workaday struggles with all-in-together rock'n'roll interplay. What lifts these 12 tracks above being simply good pub-rock fodder can perhaps be credited to producer and Shihad drummer Tom Larkin. With the inclusion of some unexpected Caribbean and honky tonk flavours on songs like Charlie O and The Last Post, Larkin's firm hand on the rudder has ensured there's enough to interest without over-polishing or sacrificing the band's live sound.

Some refreshing acoustic guitar noodling rounds things out in Everyman's Tale and it's obvious at this point that King Cannons are indeed a hard-working group. Every member has a job and they do it; it's not messy or chaotic, it's purposeful and defined. Reinventing blue-collar music, while already steeped in Australian tradition, is quite welcome in the current economic state.