Elektra
6E274
1980
"Hey Judy, get Trudy." So begins one of the greatest twofers in pop history. "This Beat Goes On/Switching to Glide" may not be as famous as double-A "We Will Rock You/We Are the Champions," or even "Feeling That Way/Anytime," but, yowsah, it's an exquisitely enjoyable double shot. When we switch to glide, a buoyant blast of bouncing Question Mark & the Mysterians? keyboard pushes power chords, power chords, and more power chords. Well, this beat remains throughout as the Ontario Kings surf the new wave with grace and poise, gliding in under the auspice of production legend Bob Ezrin. That grand opening has been pumped up and transferred to disc, but the rest of this gem was almost lost forever in the wax museum (Now on CD as The Kings Are Here and More. The King's swinging fete never lets up, and actually gets a bit exhausting even before one reaches the label on the front. Side two darts off the line with "Run Shoes Running (somehow working in spite of [or because of] that title)." "Anti Hero Man" sports a sharp wraparound riff and "Love Store" has everything the underground pop fan needs. Cheesy roller rink organ bounces everywhere making this fiesta seem like a day at the fair. When I was a little dude, I longed for an LP that could keep this pace and The Kings Are Here is defiantly an amphetamine party record as the beat goes on and on and on; but to the average joe who prefers a bit of ease with his extreme rock and roll, this inaugural may fall under the one-trick-pony category. The latter listeners might try the Kings' Unstoppable which includes the classic double single and a bit more shading on the rest of the CD. The rest of you animals prepare for Amazon Beach.
-STONE, Cheap Trash NYC
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