Some bands come out of nowhere, and some people are born to do what they are doing. In the case of AK And The Red Kites, it’s a little bit of both.
AK is Andew Knightley. He was once of Trident Waters, who I reviewed in 2019, and upon reading it again for this, I am proud of the line “This is what Cadillac Three would sound like if they wanted to get laid instead of drinking with their buddies”, but also I pointed out that “if you didn’t know this was an English band you’d never guess”.
That feels like the case on “Proverbial Storm” too. He is simply supposed to sing these songs whether in the Chilterns or the Mississippi Delta they belong.
“Devil’s Stomp”, the opener, is more bluesy than Robert Johnson’s guitar case, and that voice. Soaked in moonshine with a sandpaper chaser – the likes of Seasick Steve could do worse than have a listen.
It’s bursting to rock, too. Barely holding itself in, and that’s on “Stronger” too. But that adds something else. It adds a soaring chorus (appropriate for a band called The Ride Kites, I suppose). Ambition is what you call it. Glorious would be another word.
Indeed, the whole thing is glorious. If the first one is blues-tinged, then by the time they’re doing the title cut there’s a roar and if it’s blues, then it’s blues sung by Richie Kotzen. Knightley is astonishing.
“Wolf Moon” reckons there’s no roses in the garden, and if they’ve not salted the earth then the groove would take a wrecking ball to it anyway, but they are happy for a party, and “Tear It Up” is a very decent mid-paced rocker, with a very dirty sounding lead break.
The last one brings it all back full circle. Primal blues, deep in the swamps and the woods, Billy J Gibbons with the hounds of hell nipping at his heels.
“Proverbial Storm” whips one up. An electric, gale forced one at that. The country air that Andrew Knightley moved to has given him a new lease of life.
Rating 8.5/10
