King Kaxl and the No Good Duo - Your Boyfriend

Hear The Track Here

The grandly named King Kaxl and the No Good Duo are, apparently, two Finns; Benito Bolognese on drums and Meddi on bass and keys. The keys being, I presume, mainly organ(ic). See the reason I am fixated on this essential fact is because while I was downloading the track for review I scanned their page (as you do) and saw that they listed as an influence one of the mainstays of my own musical world. I love the sound and texture of a Hammond B3, there is no other sound quite like it and it cannot be duplicated. Booker T and The MG's is the influence here, and it was them and - in particular - the great Jimmy Smith that won me over to the sound of this unique instrument.. You can imagine then the disappointment I felt that Your Boyfriend didn't contain anything Hammond-like.

The other influence they cite is Belle and Sebastian and this comparison is probably closer to the mark, because Your Boyfriend is a light pop confection at first glance. However, like a lot of tracks if you give them more than one or two plays they can often reward you in other, less instant, ways. It's true that I did pretty much take to this track from the beginning simply because it's almost impossible to dislike it, its trying so hard. Some of the Soundclick veterans around will remember some impressive tracks in the same style from fellow Scandanavian The Big Ship, so if you liked that, King Kaxl is da boy for you.

Considering its bright and breezy style, Your Boyfriend packs a lot of different things into the almost three minutes of existence. The song itself is a paltry eight lines but they are made to count and introduce the tenor of the track very well. Sung by the duo at extreme left/right separation, it's well sung although there's some degredation of the overall sound when the vocals are happening. The rest of the track is taken up with some nice rhythmic bits that sometimes work, and sometimes not quite and - after a few plays - are quite as arresting as the earlier part of the track. Still, niggles aside, this is a catchy little track that won't tax your brain too much.

Nice alternative sound. Recommended.