King Cobras Do Review From The Commercial Appeal

2.16.2007

King Cobras Do
Vending Machine
Shoulder Tap Records

Time magazine last week ran an article about a new generation of hipster parents seeking to stay cool while raising a family; locally this trend is best expressed in Rock-n-Romp, a group that Memphis musician Robby Grant co-founded, that hires local alternative bands to play in family-friendly settings. But Grant, whose home studio band Vending Machine has just released its fifth CD, could also turn out to be the hipster parents' Dylan.

Musically, Grant has never walked the straight path. In all his other various projects -- from defunct alterna-funk band Big Ass Truck to current outlets like the cover band the Glitches, the Alicja Trout collaboration Mouserocket, and Vending Machine -- Grant brings a quirky, punkish sensibility laced with a love for classic pop but just out of synch with expectations. You can hear it in the jerky rhythms he prefers and the strange harmonics that imbue his melodies. This anti-pop stance does not, on a casual listen, make for very accessible music; previous Vending Machine records have been, on the surface at any rate, jarring efforts with little visceral engagement.

But on King Cobras Do, Grant has struck a nice balance between pop songcraft and his own yen for angular detours. With lilting tunes and pared down lyrical imagery, tracks such as the bubblegum love song "Rae" (about Grant's wife) and the bluesy "Recording Your Thoughts" are some of Grant's most immediately appealing songs.

Even the more challenging material has a new depth. The father of two is very good at exposing the childlike whimsy in the current vogue of twee pop, going so far as to even give his 7-year-old son writing credit on "Saturn National Anthem." And even a song about death like "Desert Played Sun" is populated with children and animals, and full of playful humor. - Mark Jordan