Relic Kings release new Single/Video

Relic Kings release new Single/Video

It isn’t very often that a lyric video is able to provoke the same sort of reaction that a conventional music video would, but that’s exactly what the visual spectacle for Relic Kings’ “Blinded by the Sun” does. Relic Kings don’t try to break the mold with this video, but by introducing some evocative imagery into a jam that is already plenty inspirational in its own right, we as listeners are afforded an opportunity to connect with the material in a way that we wouldn’t have otherwise. This band takes every part of their work seriously, and this piece highlights just how committed they are to their chosen craft.

Like the lyric video, the song itself isn’t all that different in design from what audiences are used to in contemporary rock, except for the addition of a supersized, slightly countrified chorus. I haven’t been able to get the hook out of my head since I listened to this single for the first time, and although the relaxed guitar elements add a strangely folkish texture to the fever pitch, they don’t sound out of place next to the more straightforward rock n’ roll tones at all – contrarily, they complement each other brilliantly.

These verses, when isolated away from the vocal harmonies that carry them through our stereo speakers, are a little stock for how grand an instrumental backdrop they’re featured against, but they still serve well in showing us the range of the singer here. He could be serenading us with a total poetic farce and his voice would still be one of the more commanding points of interest in “Blinded by the Sun,” but if the lyrical content gets a bit more cutting and vulnerable in future releases, Relic Kings will truly have the full package as a band.

This master mix makes some parts of the song sound like they were recorded live, but not in an overindulgent sense at all. We’re up close and personal with Relic Kings when they launch into the chorus, feeling every bloated pulse of the percussion while trying to keep up with the groove of the guitars, and though it verges on becoming overwhelming towards the end of the track, the band takes care to avoid a head-on crash as the music ceases and the song comes to a stop. They’ve got creative self-control, which isn’t something that can be said for a lot of their American peers.

If “Blinded by the Sun” is a fair representation of who Relic Kings are as a group, then you can sign me up for more. From the stampede of the drums as the band fiercely attacks the opening stanza to the moment when the velvety vocal disappears into the darkness from which the song first arose, there’s no escaping the swagger that this power trio dispatches so effortlessly here. This is a hot sound from a crew that definitely knows what they’re doing inside of the studio, and based on the quality of what I hear in this release, I cannot wait to see what they come up with next.

Mindy McCall