The recent implosion that preceded the release of what would become The King Blues’ final record has followed a rough few years for the band. Heading up bills at venues that seemed to grow only bigger, line up changes and distance put between them and the sound of songs like ‘Mr Music Man’, and has left them looking very different from The King Blues of a few years ago.
What’s important now is what the band leave behind. They’ve had more to say than most in the UK punk scene of the last decade and have always been instantly recognisable – ‘Long Live The Struggle’ is no different in that respect, but the similarities overall are outnumbered by new ideas.
Kicking off with ‘We Are What We Own’, you’d be forgiven that you’re in for an album full of the acoustic driven and ska hinting political pop that the band have become synonymous with in recent years. This opinion will dissolve within thirty seconds of the next track, as ‘We Are The Future’ arrives complete with dubstep breaks, a hip hop feel and a chorus so charged with dance rhythm and synths that you’d be forgiven for thinking you’d been handed a remix. It’s still delivered with a call for unity and change, but it’s quite an eyebrow raiser consider the track that it follows up.
‘Modern Life Has Let Me Down’ shifts tact again, carrying one of the biggest choruses of the album that is one of the band’s finest moments. By now, it becomes obvious that ‘Long Live The Struggle’ isn’t going to stick to one defined style – on early listens that’s as exciting as it is a little jarring – and the band have as much to say with their stylistic approach here as they have always had with their lyrics.
‘Wasted Words’ pulls the band in another direction again. It’s the first track that delivers personal rather than political lyrics, and the female vocal driving the chorus would sit better in an R ‘n’ B track than anything that band have ever tried before. It’s going to be a bit of an opinion divider, but it’s a great pop track in it’s own right.
Unsurprisingly, the band change tact once again with ‘Can’t Bring Me Down’. This time bringing a screamed-vocal-over-dubstep-break chorus and some of the fastest rapping that the band have ever tried in the verses, it’s one of the shortest tracks on the album, and ends up as one the most ambitious and interesting because of it.
‘Tear Us Apart’ is the first “ska” track on the album (think ‘Hold On Tight’ with a bit more pace), and though it’s most remarkable for not actually being that remarkable or breaking new ground, the arrangement is immaculate and there’s little to no fault in the delivery.
A piano driven 6/8 number, ‘This Is My House’ covers the London Riots and the effect it had on communities and families, and the return of the dominant female vocal in the chorus is a testament to just how ambitious The King Blues have tried to be on the album. Here, the message is great but the song itself feels a little lazy, and ends up being a little skippable.
‘Booted Out Of Hell’ is a positive number that wouldn’t feel out of place in the older King Blues material – it’s one of the strongest moments on the album and the production here is nothing short of lush. It would be a surefire live favourite if the band were sticking around, and a bonafide upbeat summer tune.
Next, ‘Power To The People’ brings a strong clash influence, and is fairly closely aligned to the sound found on ‘Punk & Poetry’. It’s largely more focused than most of the tracks on that record though, and manages to mesh most of the bands influences together well.
‘Walking Away’ is a return to the downbeat-love-song-with-strings approach. There’s no doubt that the band can pull tracks like this off, but after the louder and more upbeat moments that come before it end up  making the track feel a bit superflous to the ambitions of the record and the band in general.
Next up, ‘When The Revolution Comes’ kicks in, and though the verse sounds a little like Itch doing a rap guest part on ‘Control Of The Knife’ by Girls Aloud (-10000 punk points for that reference), it’s a fast and fun track that could have sat far earlier in the album without too much trouble.
Bringing things to a close, ‘Keep The Faith’ is a dark pop number, but one that suitably closes the album (and the band) down. It single-handedly shows how far the band have come since ‘Under The Fog’ (or how far removed they are from their roots, depending on where you sit), and it’s as much of an obituary and a handing-over-of-the-torch as the band will ever be able to deliver.
Overall, what The King Blues have done with ‘Long Live The Struggle’ is fairly extraordinary. The controversy around the band’s demise will mean that the messages within it are tainted, but dig away and take it for what it is and you have an ambitious record that barks as loud as the band over have or will. ‘Long Live The Struggle’ isn’t afraid of sounding commercial, and where ‘Punk & Poetry’ felt a little rushed and obvious, it feels considered and measured.
The King Blues have always divided opinion, but they’ve also always stuck to their guns and ‘Long Live The Struggle’ leaves the band ending with a brassy, angry, opinion dividing and loud goodbye. For curiosity or otherwise, make sure this hits your ears at least once to see what could have been.
TOM AYLOTT