KING MENTAL (Puff Boys)




King Mental is a UK band that has been around since the late 1990’s, releasing acid-tinged techno on various record labels. But just this year in 2017, they finally got around to releasing a self-titled album. The album, coming on a pretty clear-green cassette, is a four-track EP and its songs are purely instrumental. The first track, “8th Floor Madness”, starts off with a catchy electronic danceable beat and thudding bass that will make your speakers vibrate. “Blair Bitch Project” continues on with a faster energy to it.

Side B’s “When Ya Move Out Of Control & Run” features real drums as the beat (as in non-electronic) and is a slower tempo track, and is accompanied by muffled lyrics for the first time in the album, differentiating it from the previous tracks. The final track, “I’m George Ryan”, starts with a quick beat once again and features voice samples from the titular George Ryan. Out of curiosity I tried to find the source of these samples, but the only “George Ryan” of note I could find was a former governor of Illinois who was arrested on corruption charges, so unless that’s him I am in the dark as to who the subject of the song is.

In all I found the album quite enjoyable, being a fan of electronic music myself. If you’re looking for some good instrumental electronic music to dance to, this is not an album to overlook.
https://soundcloud.com/king-mental

https://kingmental.bandcamp.com/album/king-mental-baby

-- Suren Oganessian