I Was a King
I Was A King
Release Date: Apr 7, 2009
Genre(s): Indie, Rock
Record label: Control Group/Tcg
Music Critic Score
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Album Review: I Was A King by I Was a King
Very Good, Based on 3 Critics
Based on rating 7/10
Norway's I Was a King are children and students of indie rock. If you were to closely examine their DNA you'd find equal elements of Amer-indie rock à la Dinosaur Jr., U.K. and U.S. shoegaze as perpetrated by Ride and the Lilys, jangling chord-change rock like the kind Teenage Fanclub basically perfected, and noise pop that's equal parts dreamy My Bloody Valentine, and classic rock Medicine influenced.
Based on rating 7/10
Cultural globalization spurred by the development of new media technologies like the Internet was the best thing to happen to Scandinavians since strawberry-bearded Beowulf slayed Grendel. Years could pass without a Scandinavian band ever getting a review in a major Anglophone publication, to say nothing of places on record shelves. Once it was represented almost exclusively by Abba.
Based on rating 6.4/10
Not to get all protectionist here, but it seems pointless to import so many 1960s-mining indie rock outfits to America when we've got plenty of perfectly good 60s-mining acts right here at home. Yet Norway's I Was a King offer a welcome twist on the same ol'. Sure, all the usual signifiers are swimming through the group's self-titled second album, as well as elements borrowed from pioneering 60s synthesists Big Star or the Raspberries (the group covers a song from 60s survivor Larry Norman, too).