Band: King Khan
Release: 10/2011
Label: Scion A/V

Comments: Here we are once again. Entering into the mysterious kingdom of King Khan’s supreme genius. For all those who’ve been following Khan, it’s quite a trip in itself keeping up with his propensity to try new, seemingly crazed musical ideas. In the past two years alone, we’ve heard him as part of the psycho-gospel “super-group” Almighty Defenders, the Bollywood pleasing Tandoori Knights, and (most recently) Khanwood Clarke. There have been other collaborations here and there that I didn’t just mention and how could one forget the two bands that have consumed most of Khan’s adulthood: the Shrines and the King Khan & BBQ Show. Well, as it turns out, this experience – The King Khan Experience — is a Shrines impostor or synonym. Khan’s got the provocative lyrics, raspy and soulful vocal stretches, ubiquitous organ, and guitar clang and twang that we’ve always known and loved. Nothing audible on this Experience is particularly innovative in comparison to The Supreme Genius, but that doesn’t mean this is a throw-away Experience. It does turn out that the first few cuts made available for download pre-release are the best. The psychedelic, yet magnificently clean “Come Levitate With Me” is sort of how you’d imagine a song with that title to sound. “I Got Love” is one of my favorites from this batch, asking the apropos “I got love. Baby, what you got?” Add a wah-wah solo to the mix and there you have it. There is a little deviation from what we’ve heard from “official” Khan on “Are You Serious?” which comes across as a mockery of budget recording, with Khan making an impromptu vocal overdub on top of a bottom-shelf wah-wah riff. The best thing of all on here is “Hammer Ich Vermisse Dich,” a German cover of Jay Reatard’s “Hammer I Miss You” which includes a children’s chorus singing “Hahhh-merreeee ichh vermissee dich”. Brilliance on Khan’s part for thinking up that. At any rate, it’s a tad difficult evaluating this EP beyond what can be heard. Whether Khan was fudging around with Scion on this thing or whether it was a genuine musical effort (the ‘Tard cover puts a skeptical spin on this school of thought) is besides the point. Khan’s having fun, so we’ll let him. Can’t imagine this holding any weight in the category of greatest things the Indo-Canadian has ever done.