Vice Records
The Almighty Defenders is a dream-team three-way between the Black Lips King Khan and BBQ (a.k.a. Mark Sultan). Written recorded and mixed in just one week at Khan’s Moon Studios in Berlin it’s the first major collaboration of these rock ’n’ roll ragamuffins since their U.S. tour several years back resulting in a raw righteous collection of sinner-man soul.
Without a doubt these blown-out devotionals may remind some listeners of an especially scorching Sunday morning (or for the less pious perhaps the song-and-dance credits sequence of Steve Martin’s The Jerk ) . “All My Loving” kicks off the sermon with some heated call-and-response hollers Khan’s gravelly growl and a groove that could get even grandma up out of the pews. On a similar tip “Bow Down and Die” is a slow-burning spiritual complete with spoken-word interlude while the Mighty Hannibal cover “I’m Coming Home” is drenched in equal parts church organ and swirling psych-rock guitar. On closer “The Great Defender” Khan gets up on the pulpit like a preacher gone wild screamin’ and sweatin’ for our blessed salvation.
Sadly shorter space-fillers like “Jihad Blues” “Over the Horizon” and the back-to-back silliness of “30 Second Air Blast” and “Death Cult Soup ’n’ Salad” (the latter consisting entirely of a chug-a-chug throwaway riff vocal sound effects and Three Stooges impressions) taste far too undercooked. There’s certainly something to be said for spontaneity but if these cats had taken just a tad more time to smooth out the strut of “Ghost With the Most” or the Jackson 5 hopscotch of “She Came Before Me” they might have produced some serious miracles. As it stands the passage with the strongest chance of converting the agnostics is “Cone of Light” the sole song to cast a much-deserved spotlight on Sultan and his Sam Cooke croon.
