King Tuff (Bonus Track Version)

King Tuff (Bonus Track Version)

The second King Tuff record is a vaguely lo-fi, distorted one-man-band garage-pop album. Unlike the dozens of similar efforts released around the same time, King Tuff heralds the arrival of a major alt-rock talent on par with Jay Reatard, Chris Knox, or Ty Segall. Each song is a genre exercise of sorts, but Kyle Thomas (a.k.a. King Tuff) isn't a showoff. When the guitar riff doubles into a Sweet-style heavy glam-fest halfway through the first song, “Anthem,” it’s clear that the dude's doing this at the service of a great little pop number. The insanely catchy “Swamp of Love” mixes the campfire-folk vibe of The Fruit Bats with the outsider garage of The Strange Boys. Thomas is already in at least three other bands; here’s hoping the fellow quits his day job and devotes all his time and effort to King Tuff.

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