The Kingdom
The Kingdom
Years Active: 2003 to 2007
Genre: Indie Pop, Lo-Fi
Country: United States
Website: http://www.myspace.com/thekingdom
Members:
Gavin Todd
Zach Okun
Charles Westmoreland
Evan Railton
Artist Bio:
Too often, a debut EP is little more than a promotional device, incapable of standing alone as a fully realized piece of art. Not so with The Kingdoms bizarre and wondrous Unitas, a surreal paean to the legendary Baltimore Colts quarterback. The conceptually complete and enthusiastically performed song-cycle finds singer/mastermind Charles Westmoreland re-imagining Johnny Unitas as a mythical deity hurling the sun across the sky to the locomotive horse with dove wings, and goes on to tell of a hero in love and covered in horses blood who plays a cosmic game of football in the heavens. In using a familiar sports hero as the metaphorical point of departure, Westmoreland offers a fitting example of The Kingdoms aesthetic intent: the transformation of the easily recognizable trappings of contemporary indie rock (melodic guitar jangle, low-budget keyboards) into something otherworldly and divine. Though Westmorelands distinctive poetics and metaphysics alone would make Unitas a compelling debut, the skyscraping vocals and keen melodies transform these songs from bedroom-born 4-track charm into basement party anthems, brimming with teenage abandon. From the complex, intersecting vocal lines of I Am Constellation to the soaring choruses of Arcadia of My Youth, the EP displays a knowing mastery......[Read More]