THE K’s – I WONDER IF THE WORLD KNOWS? – ALBUM REVIEW
There has been a subtle indie revival in recent years and itâs becoming somewhat cool to like music with guitars again. One young group to have grabbed moderate levels of attention is The Kâs and that hype has slowly built towards the release of their debut album.
The return of festivals in this post-pandemic era seems to have heralded this new found fondness for sing-a-long ready, flare-lighting indie rock anthems and itâs in these fields that The Kâs have helped to forge their own path.
Itâs a positive then that straight out the bat you feel that âI Wonder If The World Knows?â has been summoned by the festival lords for the good times ahead. As you listen, you can shut your eyes and feel the summer sun (or rain!) beating down on your face as you lose yourself in the music.
That feeling should serve the band well as we head into another festival season, and is a key takeaway from this record. It would however do the quality of songs a disservice to simply marry them to the good time vibes of a festival main stage.
Indeed, there is a depth to these tracks which provides a firsthand social commentary of surviving the current pitfalls of modern life. The lyricism is clever and relevant, strengthening the credible indie soundtrack and creating a collection of indomitable melodies.
Whilst there is more than a knowing nod towards the icons of northern indie, The Kâs have been able to establish their own identity with a superb debut album. With the likely success that this record will bring, the band will no longer need to wonder, because the world will most definitely know!
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Volume 12 features cover stars Reading & Leeds Festivals as they reveal their 2024 headliners. We also review live shows from Queens of the Stone Age, Twin Atlantic and Beans On Toast. Plus we review the debut album from The Sleeping Souls!
We have our News Report rounding up new releases from Von Hertzen Brothers, Superlove, ALT BLK ERA, Blackout Problems, Feeder, Graphic Nature, Gun, The K’s, Kid Bookie and Benjamin Francis Leftwich!
Plus new live announcements from Live At Leeds, Takedown Festival, TRNSMT Festival, Roddy Woomble, Paul Weller, The Warning, In Flames, Arch Enemy, The Damned and Bad Touch!
Finally, we round up the latest additions to our âDiscoverâ New Music Playlist with SAVE US, Future Static and Tribe of Ghosts!
Our weekly music News Report has evolved into the Full Pelt Magazine, and you can download the ninth issue now for free!
Volume nine includes an update from cover stars The Hunna and exclusive interview with The Pale White. Plus we review Fall Out Boy live in London and album reviews from The Cadillac Three, The Struts, WARGASM and Black Water County!
We have our News Report rounding up new releases from Green Day, Chelsea Wolfe, Beans On Toast, Dead Poet Society, Casey, Mother Mother, The Beatles, New Model Army, Pet Needs, Pendulum, Therapy?, Normandie, Bob Vylan, Amongst Liars, Buzzard Buzzard Buzzard and Kid Kapichi!
Plus new live announcements from 2000trees, Isle of Wight Festival, Takedown Festival, Radar Festival, Bearded Theory, Bruce Springsteen, Hayseed Dixie, Feeder, Delain, Saint Agnes, Chris Shiflett, Black Honey, The K’s, Lake Malice, Kaiser Chiefs, King Nun and Blossoms!
Our weekly music News Report has evolved into the Full Pelt Magazine, and you can download the fourth issue now for free!
Volume four includes an update from cover stars Creeper, a review of âConfessions of the Fallenâ from Staind plus a special feature on Metal for Good!
We have our News Report rounding up new releases from Bruce Dickinson, Blink 182, The Dollyrots, Chelsea Wolfe, Alien Weaponry, Helmet, VEXED, The Cadillac Three, P.O.D., The Vaccines, Against The Current, The K’s, Casey, Jack Valero, Little Man Tate, The Sleeping Souls, Interlaker, The Pale White, Florence Black and North Atlas!
Plus new live announcements from Bury Tomorrow, Poppy, Hot Water Music, Jake Bugg and Grade 2.
Welcome everyone to another edition of our weekly music News Report!
We begin this week with the best new releases from the past week and it’s Ash that get us started.
The trio have recently revealed that they will release a new album, ‘Race the Night’ on September 15th. This week the group debuted their latest single, ‘Like a God’, which you can check out above.
Frontman Tim Wheeler comments: “Like A God pushes the rock aspect of the album to its furtherest limits. An ode to sexual apotheosis it revels in a carnal riff played with mantra like repetition before reaching a frenzied climax.”
Skindred are also building towards the release of a new album with ‘Smile’ set to arrive on August 4th!
This week saw the group share their latest single, ‘Unstoppable’, which you can check out above.
As a band, weâve survived the rise and fall of a million genres, trend and fads in this world,â says guitarist Mikey Demus. âPeople have tried and failed to put us in a box we refuse to live in. Skindred has a determination and a tenacity to stay true to ourselves, and true to our fans. Skindred will not be ignored. We are Unstoppable!â
âWe keep going and we keep pushing forward,â says frontman Benji Webbe, a man whoâs no stranger to being unstoppable, having survived sepsis and having his throat slashed. âIn life, itâs about hearing that our music has encouraged people and got them through dark times. But even when weâre done and gone, people will still be listening to this music. That thought makes me smile.â
Following a slew of successful festival appearances, Bob Vylan have shared their brand new single, ‘Dream Big’, which you can check out above!
Commenting on the single, Vylan said “Written for my younger self and anybody that dreams of accomplishing or changing something. A reminder of where we have come from and what we are capable of.”
Bad Wolves have this week shared their new single, ‘Bad Friend’, which you can check out above!
ââBad Friendâ exemplifies exactly where Bad Wolves always wanted to be as a band,â relays vocalist Daniel âDLâ Laskiewicz. âIt lives dead center of being melodically catchy as well as crushingly heavy and is a great representation of our new upcoming album. This song reminds us that TRUE friendship is not about being perfect or always saying the right thing but being there for each other through the good times and the bad. Itâs also to be willing to acknowledge oneâs own mistakes and make things right. If you canât do that, you might be a bad f*cking friend.â
Next in our News Report are The Dollyrots who have this week revealed that they will release a new album, ‘Night Owls’, on October 13th.
You can check out previous single ‘Hey Girl’ above.
âYou know how they say a bandâs first album is usually their best? Well, I think because we had time for this one, you know, since the world stopped due to Covid, itâs a lot like a first album. We had so many bits and pieces and once we could finally get into the studio it all just flew out of us, like we had been holding something vital & urgent in for years. Because we had. If you love The Dollyrots youâll love âNight Owls”. If you donât know The Dollyots, youâll probably love it too,â says singer / bassist Kelly Ogden.
Rising indie rockers The K’s recently unveiled their latest single, ‘Landmines’, which you can check out above.
Frontman Jamie Boyle explains:
âLandmines is a memoir of myself growing up. Itâs a story that is familiar to me, the band and thousands of other people across the UK who experienced the transition into adolescence living in a working-class town. The song sends many of us back to our late-teen days where the only recipe for a good night with friends was cheap alcohol and some sort of shelter, whether that be a tunnel or a skate park. Landmines brings back fond memories of the first real time we were free to explore the world by ourselves as, what we then thought were, âadultsâ and the events that ensuedâ.
Willie J Healey shares new single ‘Woke Up Smiling’
Willie J Healey – ‘Woke Up Smiling’
Next up in our News Report this week is Willie J Healey who has shared his latest single, ‘Woke Up Smiling’, which you can check out above!
The track comes from upcoming new album, ‘Bunny’, which will arrive on August 25th.
On the track, Healey says “I wrote this during a glorious period of my life. I was living in a studio flat in Bristol, it had these huge sash windows which let huge amounts of morning sun in. Iâd make coffee and sit with my guitar & cat, Iâm pretty sure my cat helped me write that song.â
King Nun have this week debuted new single, ‘Golden Age’, which you can check out above!
The single will feature on upcoming new album, ‘Lamb’, which is due for release on September 29th.
Speaking in the new single, vocalist Theo Polyzoides comments: ‘Golden Age is about feeling damned by the normalcy of life around youâ contemplates the front man. âit’s about trying to have fun and break away from the mundane too. There is so much about modern life that feels unnatural, or that things could have happened differently, so the humour lightens things up a bit in an anti-defeatist way.â
The Menzingers share ‘There’s No Place In This World For Me’
The Menzingers – ‘There’s No Place In This World For Me’
Finally in this section of our News Report this week comes, ‘There’s No Place In This World For Me’, from The Menzingers, which you can of course check out above!
The band commented, “This song is an anthem for anyone stuck between where they are and where they want to be.”
Scottish fellowship North Atlas have shared their brand new single, ‘Superego’!
âAccording to Freud, the Superego acts as our moral compass, what he calls the Id describes the drives for primal behaviour, while the regular Ego works to strike a balance between those two needs. The Superego strives for a sort of moral perfection, so I suppose that means thereâs usually a cost for what you want. This song is about not paying for what you want by sacrificing your own values.â
Leon Hunter – Vocals
Bellwether – ‘fallingshort’
Sydney based Pop Punk band Bellwether have shared their new single, ‘fallingshort’.
âfallingshortâ is a pensive, emotionally driven pop punk track that is musically inspired by the works of electronic artist Porter Robinson, with further inspiration taken from 2000âs era emo pop punk. The song is a reflection on the decisions we wish we would have made in the past and the opportunities we feel have passed us by, while maintaining a determined outlook towards the futureâ – Guitarist Heath Joukhadar
Lucky Hit – ‘Shoebox Memories’
UK based pop punk band Lucky Hit have shared a brand new single, ‘Shoebox Memories’
âShoebox Memories focuses on the perspective of someone looking back at a time shared between two people. It recalls some of the experiences they shared and questions if the importance of those experiences were indeed shared. We all have those things that we hold on to which to anyone else means little to nothing. Not to you though, for you they hold a core memory. They take you back to the past. These can be anything from a ticket stub to a mixtape of songs from a time in your life. They hold memories you wouldnât trade for anything.â – Vocalist Lawrence Murphy.
