Although Stone Kings’ choice of name might lead you to believe that the Kent-based bunch fancy themselves as desert rock royalty, their sounds are less stoner trip and more classic rock’n’roll with the occasional Alice In Chains-like grungy undertone.
The first half of this debut is made of straight-up hard rock songs, while the latter slows down and adds more melody. All this makes their debut polished but not especially unique or memorable in a sea of similarly straight-up rock bands.
However, the strongest aspect of Stone Kings is without a doubt their impressively varied guitar work: there are fat riffs, as in the catchy, punchy opener Crazy Again, southern twangs like those in Taste Of Heaven, and mesmerising guitar solos – crank up Free Yourself’s guitar solo to sink into bliss.
But despite being solid Stone Kings may struggle to stand out. Nonetheless, this is a damn good starting point.
