Kingsley Flood

Kingsley Flood play salt-of-the-earth type of music that doesn't strive for authenticity -- it claims it. After the critical acclaim of their first album, 'Dust Windows,' which was championed by NPR, the Boston group returns with a five-song EP, 'Colder Still,' that deals with the unravel the complexities of privilege, class and the American dream.

"I've had my fair share of jobs where well-off people insist that they're in it to help the less privileged, and also insist that a photographer be there while they're doing it" frontman Naseem Khuri tells Spinner.



Take a listen to Kingsley Flood's tune 'Mannequin Man' above. The song is the tale of an ambitious do-gooder, who performs acts of charity for the wrong reasons.

With their rambling rhythms, blistering guitar work and impressionistic and Dylanesque lyrics, the band cooks up Americana ranging from city to country in the space of one short song. 'Colder Still' is out now. - AOL Spinner

Kingsley Flood's "Dust Windows" was my favorite album of 2010 and stayed atop my charts until the Decemberists dropped "The King Is Dead." Now the Boston band is about to drop a new six-song EP, "Colder Still," that knocks the Decemberists' leftovers EP "Long Live The King" out of my personal Number 1 spot. Funny.

Cover-High-Res (2)"Colder Still" is an interim step for Kingsley Flood, a bit of a stylistic grabbag. "I Don't Wanna Go Home" (not the Southside Johnny tune) has some power-poppy, almost glam touches behind a typically headlong vocal from frontman/songwriter Naseem Khuri. "Wonderland" opens with a single guitar picked behind a close-up, unadorned Khuri confessional ("Brother I've been lying all along/my collar's not as clean as I let on...") before Jenee Morgan's fiddle comes in and the tune begins to canter. "Mannequin Man" is a speedy guitar rager that evokes early Elvis Costello or Graham Parker and is gonna leave 'em drained when played live. Title track "Colder Still" is spooky and November-y as you can get, with Khuri's long, torchy syllables against spikey electric guitar on the chorus.

The EP has gobs of everything I loved about Kinglsey Flood in the first place, from Khuri's tumbling, Dylanesque lyrics to the collaborative unity of the band's playing and the surprising little fills and accents on every song. There are good reasons the band got featured on NPR and won New Artist of the Year at the 2010 Boston Music Awards and Best Roots Act in the 2010 and 2011 Boston Phoenix Best Music Poll. (That was Khuri yowling about "the pulse of the nation" on those WBZ ads, too, another KF song placement.)

That said, "Dust Windows" was recorded as a piece in a rural Vermont retreat, which added subtly but immeasurably to its greatness, the way it held together. "Colder Still" shows it was recorded in Somerville and Brooklyn studios and I suspect at different times. Still, it will tide me over until the band's next full-length album, which I'm told is all of a piece and written but not yet recorded. Can hardly wait.

Kingsley Flood will release "Colder Still" with a three-night run at Lizard Lounge, in Cambridge, December 8, 9, and 10. Support acts include Balthrop, Alabama (NYC) and Son of the Sun (Buffalo) on Dec. 8; Swear and Shake (NYC) and Paper Thick Walls (Chicago) on ;Dec. 9; and Jamie Kent and the Options (Northampton) and This Way (Portland) on Dec. 10. Shows are 21+, doors at 8:30 p.m.& Tickets are $10 advance, $12 at the door; order online at Brown Paper Tickets. Copies of "Colder Still" will be available at the shows, though the EP's official release date is January 10, 2012. - Boston.com

Given the many faces of American music, it's convenient that Kingsley Flood can keep its label as an "Americana" band, even as its music has changed almost entirely from its debut album, Dust Windows, to its new single, "I Don't Wanna Go Home." The group's blues-oriented, fiddle-and-banjo-infused tunes have morphed into a larger, brighter, horn-inflected sound. Electric guitar wails through the middle, claps punctuate the beat and new mic placement does wonders for the lead vocals. As a result, the song has a vintage radio feel and the momentum of a great live show, raising the listener's heart rate to match the pounding drums.

The remaining folk elements are there in the songwriting — a tale of an everyday guy who can't let go of the idea of getting in his car and driving to freedom, even as his life is telling him to stay put. "Good boy Jack got his good boy wife / who hangs frames on the wall, makes him pecan pie / But the fires inside keep him up at night / screaming, 'If you're dreaming then you gotta get going, get gone.' " Even as his '96 Crown Vic crumbles to pieces around him, he just can't help himself. - National Public Radio

Kingsley Flood: need a little palate cleanser from all the synthy, overly-sampled rape gaze out there? Try on Boston-based Kingsley Flood who trade in swinging Americana. Their high-riding fiddling, trumpeting, and jangly guitars can really dust up a storm. So much of nouveau country can come off as too earnest by half, but Kingsley Flood get you to stomp with a wink. - The Music Slut

Sextet Kingsley Flood is the sort of band that defies both genre and geography. Like DCist favorites These United States and Typefighter, Kingsley Flood toys with the idea of country-inflected music coming from people living in rural environments and strictly rootsy influences. They cite Springsteen and The Clash as influences, and came together as a function of the music scene in the hardly country locale of Boston. - DCist

Kingsley Flood redefine what it means to play Americana music in 2010. While their roots are firmly planted in fiddle-infused old-timey influences, the incredibly detailed songwriting and poetic lyrics keep things current and bring the music into our time with style and grace.

- Buffalo Artvoice

While keeping themselves steady on the pulse of a nation, Boston's Kingsley Flood takes classic folk and injects it with a bit of lustrous jazz, weaves poetic tales of everyday struggle and grace, raises the bar on what can claim itself as "Americana," and succeeds in being fresh and relevant. - Rochester City Newspaper

Kingsley Flood is an Americana band by accident.

Two years ago, singer Naseem Khuri, 30, was just another graduate student slumming it in Cambridge and pursuing a master's in public policy at Harvard.

But through a roommate ad, he wound up living next door to Nick Balkin, a 30-year-old guitarist who was then playing with a Boston band, and the two struck a friendship and a working relationship.

You might say Craigslist turned Khuri into a rock 'n' roller.

"I was gonna do some fancy international relations job," said Khuri, who now lives in Washington. "I never set out to be in a rock 'n' roll band. I just had these songs tucked away."

Friday, he and the other four members of Kingsley Flood play Hampden's Golden West Cafe as part of their first multicity tour.

The band's first album, "Dust Windows," bounds along like a tumbleweed across an empty town square, one picking up speed suddenly and from out of nowhere.

That folksy sound was unintended. The band members don't even like Americana. Balkin's former band was strictly Britpop. It just happened that their original guitarist also played the fiddle, and they had to incorporate it somehow.

When he penned these songs, Khuri says there were elements of Lucinda Williams and bluegrass in them, but mainly he was thinking of indie rock.

"I guess we're an Americana band?" he said, uncertain. "It just sort of happened. Now I'm writing with that in mind." But, he adds, the band members want to knock around the genre some instead of just coloring inside the lines.

One of their experiments in genre-bending is in how the music is performed.

"After hearing the album, people are surprised at how we sound," he said. "It's not like a punk show, but we bring a lot of energy to those shows."

But it's just in being who they are that the band is expanding the boundaries of that traditional sound. There aren't too many city musicians rocking the fiddle in these parts.

"We're all Northeast folks who don't drive pickup trucks," he says. "We're urban. I guess we're resisting all the stereotypes, and saying, 'Hey, this is our sound and we like it.' We don't have to abide by all the rules."
- Baltimore Sun

Take some rough and raw vocals akin to Tom Waits, mix in heavy doses of Bob Dylan, add melodies that send you back to a bygone era and push you forward with rock 'n' roll urgency, and you get Kingsley Flood.

The group features Chris Barrett on trumpet and percussion, George Hall on electric guitar, Naseem Khuri on acoustic guitar and lead vocals, Jenee Morgan on violin, Nick Balkin on bass and Will Davies on drums; their debut album together is called Dust Windows. Weekend Edition Sunday guest host Rachel Martin recently talked with the Boston band about the road to its first release.

Khuri hadn't always aspired to be in a rock band — his career path seemed pointed in a different direction entirely. In graduate school, he studied international relations, but says he was worried about continuing down that road.

"Somewhere along the way, I got a little nervous at the idea of sitting at an office for a long time," he says. "I realize I wanted a more direct connection with humans. I just wanted more of a one-on-one connection and wanted more impact, sooner. I found that a rock band was the best way to do that. I had all these songs festering for a long time."

Kingsley Flood's music has been labeled as Americana, but the band members say that they like to push those boundaries. Their music also carries hints of punk and rock 'n' roll.

"We're trying to create this sound that is a little different, that definitely has this tradition that's rooted [in Americana] and looks forward and incorporates all that other stuff," he says. "We try to bring some ferocity to it."

The group formed in a serendipitous fashion: Balkin and Khuri met after responding to the same Craigslist ad for a house rental. Balkin says he overheard Khuri recording his demo, and Khuri invited Balkin to pick up a bass and play with him.

"We had this one gig, and I considered it a one-off thing," Balkin says. "But it went really well, and we found another gig and just kept playing."

For Dust Windows, Khuri says he drew from personal loss in creating the record: His father died recently after a battle with cancer. He says their mutual love of Bruce Springsteen was a huge inspiration.

"We went to see [Springsteen] when he was doing the Seeger Sessions tour, and my dad was dancing and singing along to that song 'Jacob's Ladder,' " Khuri says. "There were two conclusions: one, that we had this thing that we bonded over and how much I loved this music; and two, that he was a really bad dancer."

The loss of his father sparked a sense of urgency in Khuri.

"I got impatient. I wanted more, more contact, more human connection," he says. "I wanted these songs to come to life, and to follow a passion."

Khuri's passion hasn't stopped with the completion of his album. The band is currently working on new material. - National Public Radio

WORTHY OF NATIONAL ATTENTION - the spotlight shines brightly right now on an act of true merit - and a new record we at RSL are prepared to call one of the best new records of 2010. e of mbringing band and their own brand of what I am calling Americana Grind, or post-Americana. Kingsley Flood are a group of musicians I truly respect. It's a distinction I want to clearly make - and something that will become abundantly clear to you on a listen. immediately.

REACHING OUT - The elemental songs from Kingsley Flood's Dust Windows are a rich touchstone for their listeners. It's hard not to hear elements from some of greatest music heroes and some pretty amazing contemporary influences: Everything from the overtly classical Country, to Americana, Indie Folk, Blues, Rockabilly and Gypsy. In the music and through the prose here, I detect echoes of Hank Williams, Robert Johnson, Woody Guthrie, Paul Simon, Joe Strummer, The Low Anthem, Bon Iver, Morning Benders, Dr Dog, and Lucero. These comparisons aren't labels - this is pop music's lineage, past and present.

TRACK TALK - We are welcomed into Dust Windows by "Back into Back." Here, cricket and fiddle deliver us, walking, to the farmhouse door before the hollow-body bass shoos us into the kitchen for eats and conversation. Suddenly, the scene is set for Act 1. We are ready to embark through a trip through memory and time. Not all the elements of the record change: there's a strong devotion to the core Americana, but vocals and tone are weapons wielded along with the writing. This is a play on words, truly.

The hypothesis stated in the previous paragraph is tested and proved immediately with the arrival of track two: "Cul de Sac" - a lovely, soaring stringed number that I just love. It's a joyous listen. I cannot forget to mention the the driving percussion (torn here between) grounding and powering the number. "I Got My Finger on the Pulse of The Nation," repeats singer Naseem Khuri. He's right, he does.

Then a subdued trumpet sounds as if beckoned and controlled by a snake charmer. This track is beautifully recorded, edited and engineered - really nice, all around.

I could break down the next nine songs, one after the next, (ex. love the lap guitar on "Good Enough" and the amazing fiddle on "Stoop Cats," but prefer the mountain jam on "Devil's Jam" the most because each player takes a turn on that one. One more thought on the songs: I loved "Roll of the Dice." I listened picturing a wild jam with the late Hank Williams (like some kind of Cosmic Hayride) with the band telling all sorts of human stories. Here, as elsewhere, Kingsley Flood puts in up front of the hayride. Here we find ourselves seated next to, once again, the Devil...

EARLY BEST OF 2010 PICK - Dust Windows is a really beautiful, fun record. All the tracks here a highly digestible 4:00 minutes in length. Now, by mindful, this is the album version. The band's live performances could vary based on the jam and the mindset. This again returns me to the technician aspect of this material. This record could well be the start of something good. You want to be a smarter listener? Begin listening to acts like this. Kingsley Flood is Elemental Music. - Ryan's Smashing Life

If you consider rootsy Americana to be a dour yoke worn by groups of dreary Luddites afraid to cut loose and join the modern world, then you haven't heard Kingsley Flood. Their roots cred owes to the masterful fiddle and mandolin playin' and the whiff of Appalachia found on their debut, Dust Windows, but the music's sheer exuberance is beyond time or genre. And though they're capable of quiet introspection and moments of majestic solemnity (as on the organ-heavy "Cathedral Walls"), their fans ticked the ballot for the hip-shaking enthusiasm of their more boisterous moments (imagine a shotgun wedding gone off the rails). Lead Flooder Naseem Khuri has the authority in his voice to keep the whole thing from coming off like po'-faced creative anachronism, and the band's boundless giddiness is enough to make you never want to hear a synthesizer again. - Boston Phoenix

Now here’s a good starter for anyone wishing to shake hands with Americana, even those who’ve shook its hand before and had their palms dirtied, had their rings stolen, and caught warts. Kingsley Flood are fresh out of Boston but speak with all the grizzled savvy of Martin Sheen in The Departed, still smarting from the fall he took from that office block but saved by landing balls-first on a horse. Frontman Naseem Khuri has fallen from a few office blocks of his own—his unlikely folk beginnings started with a post-grad career as an international diplomat, sabotaged by Khuri himself in A Moment Of Clarity so he could scale down to a quiet office job. Unfortunately there isn’t one, and after unraveling on coffee and appraisals and deciding on a whole new U-turn—lower-case this time, one with a hooked serif to ski-jump you out of the car park—Khuri walked away into a haze of denim and banjos, forming the Flood shortly after. He’s assembled his crew here carefully (Nick Balkin, for one, the rising bass guitarist who put the glimmer into Logan 5 and the Runners) and has stuck down eleven songs about characters musing on missed opportunities: some too old, some too eager, and some just too denim and banjos. The thing that binds them all is their dough-eyed but rough-hewn unpretentiousness; this is Irish rebel music but without all the instructions on how to make Molotovs and paratrooper accusations.

Dust Windows‘ main selling point is its balance: for every pensive croak and high tempo Stetson are downtrodden heels in equal measure. Khuri and his team have a knack for mixing curiosity with dashed trad in a way that belies their experience; you’ve only got to compare “Good Enough”‘s loner stream-of-consciousness (and lyrics appropriated from an old Dodgy hit) to the mandolin stings of “Cul de Sac,” where Khuri’s chant of “I’ve got my thumb on the pulse of the nation” jostles with scrambling jazz drums. This cowboy adaptability carries Kingsley Flood across entire strips of the country, fading into prairie pink sunsets one minute (“Cathedral Walls”) and riding shotgun with fiddles the next (“Back in the Back”). When the mood requires him, guitarist Michael Spaly counters with a whole utility belt of guitars: madcap banjo on “Devil’s Arms” or the smooth electric waves of “Eventually.”

Lyrically, either Khuri saw some shit during his false start as a diplomat or he’s been a barfly in all the right places. His stories range from dark to light to blinding, all spilled in the shadow of cacti. Khuri’s humour, on the other hand, is as frisky as you might expect from someone attempting the seasoned country look, but sufficiently tongue-in-cheek: ““Well I was born in record time / Potty-trained when I got home / I grew a moustache by age nine / And by sixteen, on the road,” he raps on “Stoop Cats,” reacting to SATs and competitive childhoods in a way angry parents just aren’t allowed to. The car-love payoff of closing track “Just a Midnight Ride” is light-hearted in a life-affirming kind of way too, our cuckolded narrator thanking his stars that the battleaxe left him the Mustang. “These days my bed is so big but I like it that way / I like it that way,” he taps, sinking into the shaggy shoes of singledom with a hillbilly lilt to his voice.

On the whole, Dust Windows feels more like a celebration than it does a sympathetic shoulder, full of enough Bay State sun to ship out those blues regardless. Some of those Whacky Races drum beats could bring down a country wedding or two, and if you’ve got a prejudice of fiddles and bluegrass you’ll need to inch into this one like a bath. When you’re in, though, there’s rubber ducks a-plenty, and Balkin and Khuri’s band of brothers (plus sister Jenée on strings) make for an eclectic small town posse. They’re flighty, they’re shy, they strut and they serenade. And they also play a Belle & Sebastian trumpet line. - Coke Machine Glow

When a band is tagged with the “Americana” label, it’s usually because the musical output possesses a quaint, folksy vibe that is steeped in nostalgic imagery of the good ole’ days but also easily accessible to a modern demographic of listeners. The tunes are usually heavy on charm but sadly, also light on originality. Played well, the genre can evoke sentiments of simpler times with simple messages, but if the gesture is too grandiose, you’re likely to get something that sounds like a parody of the O Brother Where Art Thou? soundtrack. It takes the skill of an act like Arizona’s Calexico – a band so steeped in authentic Americana that it has practically become synonymous with the American Southwest landscape – to produce the type of homespun flavor that is genuinely convincing where most others would’ve sounded like a contrived mimicry.

You can add Boston’s Kingsley Flood to the shortlist of artists who are making a fresh mark on the genre; the five-piece’s richly layered songcraft is both absorbing and challenging, admirably walking that fine line between true grit and satire. Though a far cry from the Tex-Mex symbolism of Calexico, the bands do share a dust and tumbleweed approach to songwriting, crafting songs that maintain a brittle edginess about them as they roam the open road. On their upcoming debut LP, Kingsley Flood’s founding member and lead vocalist, Naseem Khuri, sings with the same wispy and beaten down inflection that recalls vintage Bob Dylan or a more sandpaper-y Jeff Tweedy. Multi-instrumentalist Michael Spaly expertly peppers the songs with dashes of banjo, mandolin, and violin while the rhythm section and guitars lay down grooves fit for a hootenanny.

The album fades in with “Back in the Back,” a tune that uses the same sounds that made an epilogue out of “Marais la Nuit” on Neko Case’s 2009 album, Middle Cyclone: the lulling sounds of crickets and peepers near a pond. Quickly though, one of Spaly’s bluesy fiddle melodies kicks in, as does a bass line from Nick Balkin that skips more than it walks. The song also features some ole’ timey “ooh” and “aah” back up vocals and defiant lyrics from Khuri like, “I am a sinner’s saint / I may not be good / but I ain’t no slave.”

“Cul de Sac” contains one of the album’s best singalong choruses, as Khuri sings ““I’ve got my thumb on the pulse of a nation” atop a bedrock of rollicking drums, anxious mandolin, and even some trumpet licks from guest performer Chris Barrett. The song’s urgent pacing creates a wonderfully stark contrast to the cut that follows it; “Cathedral Walls” almost sounds like a lost track from Wilco’s Sky Blue Sky, where pristine guitar solos and mellow vibes evoke the polished tone of 70’s soft rock. “Good Enough” continues the breezy vibes, where Khuri’s sing-song vocals and some choice slide work from Spaly are the only things needed to drive home the sentimental depths of the song’s narrative (“Her shoes look like ones that you once wore / with a broken buckle jingling on the dance floor.”)

At the album’s core are two of the band’s most impassioned and affecting numbers: mincing beguiling lyrics (“I grew a mustache by age nine / by sixteen I owned the world”) with fiddle melodies and banjo countermelodies, “Stoop Cats” is every bit as memorable as “Cul de Sac,” but without the hint Arcade Fire-style chamber pop. “Devil’s Arms” would’ve been great performance material at a speakeasy. At times its sound harkens back to the golden days of country music, with furiously picked banjo arpeggiations and harmonized vocals that are shouted rather than sung.

Kingsley Flood shows no weak points on Dust Windows; it’s an expertly paced listen from beginning to end, contrasting devil-may-care bravado with sullen tales of isolation. For a fine example of this, just check out the closing pair of “When I Grow Up” and “Just a Midnight Ride.” The first is an earsplitting blues stomper that, for a brief moment, recalls Black Sabbath’s “Iron Man.” But it’s the grand finale, with its admission of loneliness and dependence on material happiness (“I got me a Cadillac and it’s real nice / it’s real nice / I keep it out front and not out back / I like the shine”) that cuts the deepest. - Delusions of Adequacy

While frontman, Naseem Khuri leads (vocals, rhythm guitar, keys) the ensemble there is no shortage of splendid support as one-time room mate Nick Balkin (bass, vocals), drummer Will Davies and Michael Spaly (fiddle, mandolin, lead guitars, banjo and vocals) plus trumpet (Chris Barrett) provide a sound awash in tasteful innovative attributes. It is mighty stuff as Khuri vies in likeness to your Bap Kennedys (the rumbling shuffle ‘A Little Too Old’) and the Old Medicine Crow band in texture; never more is the case than on ‘Cul De Sac’ the gentle ode ‘Cathedral Walls’ and, with fiddle in the mix ‘Stoop Cats’ produces an eclectic feel. Near as you get to ragtime meets jazz meets jug-band music. Through it is fun music it isn’t the kind to dismiss in any shape, form or manner, just another piece in the puzzle.

On whisking up a little frenetic action, ‘Devil’s Arms’ channels a maze of influences as you have energy akin to Jason And the Scorchers and the above noted Old Crows; a greater compliment for music of a high octave nature would be difficult to source. ‘Roll Of The Dice’ likewise kicks up a heap of dust, as Spaly strikes hard and mean of lead guitar. While to underline there is also a subtly to their music the measured, plaintive story-ballad ‘Eventually’ (I so love the acoustic guitar, mandolin of this genuine classic in the making! It is one of those songs you want to hear again and again) could just as easily come from the songbook of Belfast act, Bap (Kennedy).

What I really like about Kingsley Flood is the simplicity of their music and of how it never stands still, pure Americana. The kind of music sure to introduce people to other aspects and artists of the vast, eclectic genre.
- Americana UK

After a slow, sci-fi swooshing at the beginning of "Dust Windows", Kingsley Flood's debut CD, the listener is treated to 11 tracks of down home, rockin', sweet & savory Americana.

After the swoosh, a fiddle intro whines and winds around a bass line to tug you by the ear into the first song. As soon as the verse of "Back in the Back" begins with a boy on a roof as "the waters are rising" (New Orleans?) then just as quickly jumps "half a world away" to a boy who "kills to be saved".

It's easy pay attention to the symbolism-laden lyrics whether you can figure out all the clues. Songwriter Naseem Khuri sings with care for every word in a clear, slightly nasal rasp that suggests other intelligent writers like Jeff Tweedy or David Lowery.

Additionally, almost every chorus hangs on a big, catchy hook that makes it easy to sing along on second listen -- if not before the song is over. We were singing "Cathedral Walls" while walking home the other night.

Unlike most albums lately, the dynamic mix of mood and tempo makes for compelling listen from beginning to end. The band drives the music around in a rootsy chassis, but the vigorous roar is coming from a rock engine.

There's also plenty of hot guitar from the twangy goodness of "Devil's Arms" and "Roll of the Dice" (which gives a nod to Beacon Hill). On the bouncy "Cul de Sac", mandolin dances around the song particularly when it's punctuating the each line of the first verse.

While it's not surprising to hear tasteful fiddle playing throughout, we were startle to hear so much trumpet on various tracks such as the loping rag of "Stoop Cats" or the frenetic end of "A Little Too Old."

All in all, it's a delightfully raucous 40-plus minute ride on rootsy wheels. - Bostonist

Upon seeing their live performance, Kingsley Flood immediately impressed me with their self-dubbed “Post-Americana” homage to acoustic blues, bluegrass, and Dixieland jazz, all the while filling their tasteful arrangements with strong lyrical imagery, and Dust Windows, the recorded version of this band’s musical arsenal, did not disappoint.

“Cathedral Walls,” starting in at track three, heralds in the next seven tracks that, during every playback, actually made me stop whatever I was doing and just listen. “Cathedral Walls” opens with a great mellotron-sounding pad that gives way to vocalist Naseem Khuri’s signature acoustic guitar. Khuri’s scratchy, Dylan-esque (but in pitch!) voice settles in to set the pace on verse one, and the song just builds from there. Drummer Will Davies enters the first chorus and leaves out a much anticipated second stroke, which, accident or not, gives me goose bumps every time it happens. What follows is a very satisfying, four-minute, musical payoff. Nick Balkin’s bass part is very mid-rangy, but serves the song in a deliciously utilitarian & reliable way. The mandolin & guitar melodies are very sweet and catchy, and the background vocals are excellently written. Khuri’s final benediction before the chorus is his shortest but most rewarding lyric in the song: “…. so call it a prayer / call it a lie / but nobody gets out of life alive.”

Diversity in instrumentation is the rule for this album, as it is filled to the brim with tasty melodic supplements — like the fantastically intonated banjo in “Back in the Back,” or the delectable keyboards, violin melodies, and trumpet solos in “A Little Too Old.” Michael Spaly’s guitar playing, particularly the chirps in “A Little Too Old,” clean & delicate swells in “Good Enough,” and emotionally rich vibrato in “Roll of the Dice,” consistently satisfy from the album’s beginning to end.

However, such an assortment of fine ear candy runs the risk of sounding too compartmentalized when the stream of players appear and disappear all too suddenly. There’s also a slightly edged texture to the recording, whether it’s from a lack of appropriate warmth that I’m used to hearing from such wholesome, acoustic instruments, or it it’s from a shortness in the room or reverb sound. There’s definitely a one-at-a-time, living room sound to the record, and in my opinion, a voice like Khuri’s doesn’t sit well in your living room. Khuri’s voice comes from someplace else – he challenges you with songs like “Good Enough” and “Eventually”, slipping out of the cracks in the sidewalk where your emotions made you too afraid to look, or behind the cupboard doors, holding back all of those haunting memories you should have forgiven or gotten over.

I recommend that you give both “Devil’s Arms” and “Eventually” a dedicated listen-through just to appropriately savor the fantastic vocals in the background. In addition, all of the master musicians in Kingsley Flood deliver a laundry list of high-powered, instrumental rave-ups in songs like the fast-paced “When I Grow Up” and “Roll of the Dice” that are also worthy of repeated listenings.

Kingsley Flood has already played several dates outside of the area this year, including D.C. and Philly. Their show at home in Boston to commemorate this release is slated for April 3rd at The Middle East Upstairs, so grab your friends, grab a ride to The Middle East, grab a spot in line at the merch table, and grab your copy of Kingsley Flood’s Dust Windows. - Playground Boston

In today’s world of musical cross-pollination, genres have become increasingly elastic.

Sure, Metallica’s a metal band, Bob Marley’s a reggae singer and the Ramones play punk. But if you’ve been branded roots rock, alt-country or Americana - like locals Kingsley Flood, who play a CD release party Saturday at the Middle East - it’s anyone’s guess what you sound like.

More at http://bostonherald.com/entertainment/music/general/view/20100402kingsleys_americana_has_urban_roots/ - Boston Herald

Rooted in rock’s urgency;
Kingsley Flood’s sound is a little bit Dylan, a little bit Clash

By Joel Brown, Globe Correspondent | July 16, 2010

Naseem Khuri loves the music of Bob Dylan and the Band, so last year when it came time for his Boston-based Americana band Kingsley Flood to record an album, the group’s members repaired to Vermont to turn a studio there into their own Big Pink.

They found the rural atmosphere they wanted — there are peepers on the opening track — yet “Dust Windows’’ is anything but sleepy.

“I wanted to have a fierceness, an urgency to it. I wanted to make a punk record using acoustic instruments, if that makes any sense,’’ said Westwood native Khuri, 31.

From the spaghetti-western gallop of “Roll of the Dice’’ to the quiet ache of “Cathedral Walls,’’ the hooks are hard to shake, the music sounds both old-timey and of the moment, and Khuri’s ragged but passionate vocals tie it all together.

Kingsley Flood was recently named best roots act in Boston in the 2010 Phoenix Music Poll, and “Dust Windows’’ was called “a cracker of a debut’’ by the Americana website No Depression. The band plays tonight at the Rhumb Line in Gloucester and tomorrow at the Lizard Lounge in Cambridge.

A lot of people have heard Kingsley Flood already without knowing it. A summerlong WBZ-TV News ad campaign that debuted on the high-profile July 4 Esplanade telecast features the band’s “Cul de Sac,’’ with Khuri singing, “I’ve got my thumb on the pulse of a nation.’’

“I immediately thought it was something kind of special we could use,’’ said WBZ interactive media manager Jonathan Case. He found Kingsley Flood after asking for band suggestions on Twitter. “The feel of that song I found very traditional, yet a modern sound. . . . It’s playful and smart.’’

In earlier rock eras, a TV ad might have been considered a sellout, especially for a musician whose role models include Dylan and the Clash’s Joe Strummer. But the music business is different now, and Kingsley Flood decided to take the extra bit of buzz for its self-released album. The band never even tried to get signed by a record label.

“It seems like they don’t have the importance today that they used to have,’’ Khuri said. “We’re just trying to do it the old-fashioned way of doing good shows, shows people remember, and leaving it all onstage. I’m gonna awkwardly dance and I’m gonna sweat my [butt] off and give as much energy as humanly possible.’’

Khuri’s family roots are Palestinian and Christian; his parents grew up mostly in Beirut and came to the United States in 1972 when his father was offered a fellowship. Conflict in the Mideast and his father’s career as a heart surgeon kept them here, except for occasional visits back. Khuri said he had a typical suburban teen’s life of baseball and rock ’n’ roll: “The only differ ence was I had a funny name.’’

In fact, he’s not the first Khuri with a fondness for Western vernacular music. His father, who died two years ago, “had this weird obsession with Irish music’’ and classic American folk. One of Khuri’s favorite memories is attending one of Bruce Springsteen’s “Seeger Sessions’’ concerts with his father, where they both knew all the songs.

Still, Khuri’s desire to find solutions to the endless Mideast conflict is a big reason he studied international relations at Bowdoin and the Kennedy School of Government. But after getting his master’s degree in public policy from the Kennedy School, he got “totally jaded’’ by colleagues obsessed with their resumes and by the bureaucracy they faced in trying to make a difference through government or corporate work.

“The whole time I had these songs sort of brewing,’’ he said, “and just found that I could connect with people a lot more through art and music. I just put more faith in the idea that art can cause as much change as the other stuff.’’

He started playing guitar while attending the private Noble and Greenough School in Dedham and listening to Boston bands like Buffalo Tom, Letters to Cleo, and the Lemonheads. “In college, like everyone I went through a big Bob Dylan phase. I’m still in that Dylan phase.’’

He began writing songs. His elliptical lyrics are about “how do you navigate through a world of haves and have-nots? Basically the album sets out through a bunch of characters [to ask] how do you get ahead in this world, and how much politics do you have to play?’’

The band’s name sounds like a historical reference, but that’s a con. “I was walking on Kingsley Street in Allston, where I used to live, and literally water started rising on my feet, and a little kazoo floated by. And it turned out some sewer main broke or something. And we called it the Great Kingsley Flood of 2005,’’ Khuri said with a laugh.

In 2006, he and Nick Balkin met when both answered a Craigslist ad seeking roommates for a Cambridge apartment. Soon after they moved in, Khuri played some of his songs.

“I think my initial reaction was ‘Oh great, here’s another totally necessary singer-songwriter with an acoustic guitar,’ ’’ Balkin said via e-mail. “But Naseem’s music had this urgency that drew me in. Though he writes great lyrics, his real gift is melody. He’s incapable of writing a chorus that isn’t big, anthemic, and instantly hummable.’’

Balkin, who’s also the guitarist for Logan 5 and the Runners, picked up a bass. Will Davies plays drums. Guitarist Michael Spaly played on the record, then moved to Seattle; George Hall has taken his place. Fiddler Jenée Morgan rounds out the lineup, with the frequent addition of trumpeter Chris Barrett. Everyone still has a day job.

One big change has been that a few months ago Khuri moved to Washington, where he lives with his girlfriend and works as a consultant, training public and private employees in negotiation and conflict resolution. He said the distance may actually have benefits. “It is tough to rehearse and stuff, but we make it work,’’ he said on the phone from D.C. “When I come back to play, I’m itching to go nuts.

“In college, on a Saturday night everyone else would go out, and I remember watching videotapes of Springsteen concerts and sort of going crazy in my little dorm room and having those dreams and stuff and never really doing anything about it,’’ Khuri said. “Now we’re actually sort of on the road to doing something about it. Long, long, long way off, but on that track.’’

Joel Brown can be reached at jbnbpt@gmail.com. - Boston Globe

I tend to suspect a solid percentage of what appear to be roots-movement bands are, in fact, punk bands who realized they get taken more seriously when they play acoustic guitars and pretend they've always been huge Johnny Cash fans.

"I never grew up wearing cowboy hats, and I'm not going to wear one now," says Kingsley Flood founder and songsmith Naseem Khuri via telephone from Washington, DC. "We're all from the Northeast. We don't try to be something we're not. One thing we say is, we're trying to challenge traditional notions of Americana music. Hopefully, we're not making music that's been made a million times."

Kingsley — conquerors of the Phoenix's "Best Local Roots Act" in this year's Best Music Poll — contradict my cynicism about urban-dwelling twangy balladry, albeit more or less by accident. With the exception of their own band and a handful of others, they're not alt-country fans.

"I don't even like the phrase 'alt-country,' " says Khuri. "A lot of alt-country out there is just sort of boring. That's why I love the idea of just calling our music rock and roll with a fiddle. People start to realize it's not a novelty. Good music is good music, and it lasts."

In the case of Kingsley Flood, it's lasted and thrived despite Khuri's relocating to DC about a year ago while the five remaining members of the band remain in our neck of the woods. Khuri credits this to a rigorous rehearsal ethic. The plummeting standard cost of airfares also helps, as do similar musical tastes.

"I still don't listen to much roots rock," says bassist Nick Balkin, when I join him with three other area Kingsleys at Lord Hobo in Cambridge. "When Naseem and I started playing, his songs were just really good folk songs. Then it turned into something you could label Americana, because we kept saying things like, 'Oh, this would be cool with a fiddle,' or 'This part would be cool with a mandolin.' "

Of course, 90 percent of bands who say they didn't expect to end up lumped in with whatever genre either have no self-awareness or are lying. But this year's self-released Dust Windows indicates that Kingsley Flood know themselves quite well. Sometimes a straight-rock essence supplants their flickering traditionalist zeal. But then there's "Devil's Arms," which could inspire you to hop a train and guzzle moonshine. And "When I Grow Up" and "Just a Midnight Ride" fall into that select cadre of really cool indie songs I wonder whether my dad wouldn't enjoy.

Even on those tracks, Khuri never quite ceases to evoke an impish, Dustbowl-era troubadour spinning narratives where the Devil and Jesus exist as characters in the story, as opposed to anything allegorical. Which is weird, given that dude's got a grad degree from Harvard. But had he not pursued academe, he never would've started his fiddly rock band. Balkin, then known mainly as guitarist for space-age neo-Britpop lads Logan 5 and the Runners, first met Khuri through a Craigslist roommate arrangement while the latter attended school. After some fluctuation, the line-up has settled into Khuri, Balkin, lead-guitarist George Hall, mandolinist/fiddler Jenée Morgan, trumpeter Chris Barrett, and drummer Will Davies. They all seem to share a dislike of contemporary alt-country.

"Whenever Billboard creates a chart for something, it's going to become bullshit," says Hall. "It happened to country rock in the '60s, which turned into the bloated Eagles thing. Then it happened to jazz fusion, which turned into this awful, overly dexterous steaming pile. We expect Americana to go the same way, but we're fighting the good fight."

Let us commend Kingsley Flood for rejecting retro-faddism, because retro-fads are fucking stupid. Old is not necessarily better. Age doesn't always beget wisdom. Even if, in this instance, it's inspired Hall to rawk out a good deal harder. (Although he's not actually that old.)

"When you're younger, you tolerate a certain amount of shit, because everything you go through is supposed to get you some place," Hall extrapolates. "If I go on stage, that's the sum total of my life experience. And it could totally suck. Imagine what a bummer that is. But I'm not thinking, 'I'm doing this because tomorrow's going to be so much better.' This is what I do."


- Boston Phoenix

There's plenty to like about Kingsley Flood, an Americana band from Boston whose debut album, "Dust Windows," drops on April 3. Frontman Naseem Khuri - a Westwood native and Kennedy School grad - has a distinctive voice, both the literal kind for singing and the metaphorical kind for songwriting. His melodies are lovely enough, his hooks hooky enough, to qualify most of the songs for a Jayhawks record, but his grainy, slightly cracked vocals play nicely against that smoothness. Think Jeff Tweedy or Mike Doughty.

The music definitely drives the Americana lane, with guitars, bass and drums augmented by fiddle and mandolin. The rootsy traditionalism of a Levon Helm marks "Stoop Cats" and "Devil's Arms," but those are my least favorite songs here. The tracks that stick in my head the longest are harder to pin down, like "Cathedral Walls," "A Little Too Old" and "Good Enough." There's a sardonic, Dylanesque snap to Khuri's voice on "Cul de Sac" and "Roll of the Dice."

The album was recorded in Vermont last summer, and opens with the sound of the local peepers. There are lots of other nice little sonic grace notes, from the tex-mex-y trumpet fills on "Cul de Sac" to the walking bass and drum opening of "A Little Too Old," a caper-flick soundtrack that opens out into something else entirely.

I don't review albums here, normally. Most of the local CDs people press on me are, you know, sort of... eh. I gave this one a listen because - full disclosure - I'm casually acquainted with bassist Nick Balkin through his day job. I'm really glad I did.

Check the Kingsley Flood site for more, including details on their April 3 album release party (10 p.m. at the Middle East) and appearances before then on WERS-FM and the Fox 25 morning news. You can hear most of the album here. - Hub Arts

I'm trying to nail why I like this album, on first listen I didn't "get it", but was intrigued enough to go for round two immediately, then three and four, it's kind of addictive - the way it jumps around mixing up the styles maybe, the sharp sometimes off-kilter lyrics perhaps, whatever it is this Boston five-piece have produced a cracker of a début, Americana is difficult to tie down - elusive, elemental, eclectic and this album is all of them which is I believe it's underlying strength and charm.


The band are Nick Balkin (bass / vocals), Will Davies (drums, percussion, vocals), George Hall (guitars / vocals), Naseem Khuri ( vocals, rhythm guitar and keys), Jenee Morgan (fiddle, mandolin, percussion and vocals) and Chris Barrett (trumpet, xylophone, melodica, triangle and kazoo)


Here's a trio of tracks from the band to convince you, but really this an album that needs to be listened to as a complete package, turned up load. - No Depression

Kingsley Flood is a Boston based Americana band that is ready to knock your socks off, if that’s what you’re looking for. They’re also ready to lull you into a calmer mood while you enjoy a peaceful stroll. Hell, if you’d like for some folky bluegrass tunes to be stuck in your ear, you’re in luck, because they can do that too. These guys are seriously talented. The best way I can describe their overall sound is to imagine that Okkervil River hired Jeff Tweedy to be their lead singer, and had him infuse some of his musical stylings as well of course.

The 5-piece definitely falls into the “Americana” space, but what I really appreciate about them is that they make coal-miner, mountain music, and top it off with lyrics that us normal folks can relate to. Don’t get me wrong, I love songs about moonshine and broken tractors, but those aren’t exactly things I’m going to deal with. And, since you’re reading this post, I’m assuming you have access to a computer, so you probably won’t either. I’m trying to find a cool way to finish this paragraph without stealing from the band’s own self description, but they just say it so darn well: “Meshing the personal and the political with a true fiery, country-city sound (call it “post-Americana”), Kingsley Flood draws as much from Woody Guthrie and the Band as it does Joe Strummer and the Replacements.” I’m not going to call ANYTHING “post-Americana” but if you’re influenced by The Band and The Replacements, you’re a-okay in my book. So, as their description suggests, this album is quite versatile. It’ll be available on April 3rd, but they’ve been kind enough to provide us with four tracks that you can share with all of your friends, for the rock bottom price of zero Rupies.

“Cathedral Walls” is the third track on the album, and leans more toward their mellow side. The song explores some spiritual themes, and displays some beautiful vocal harmonies. There’s some beautiful string work towards the end, and the ominous tone of the organ gives it a great feel.

“A Little Too Old” starts out with a great beat and violin, and will certainly justify that Jeff Tweedy reference I made earlier. The Chorus picks up pretty good, and there’s some really cool guitar riffs in here as well, The trumpet adds a great smoky feel, and they tie them all together for a bad-ass jam at the end. It made me reach across the couch and punch Skeet right in the mouth.

The next one their gonna give you is “Roll of the Dice.” This is a really cool ballad that tells the story of a man given many gifts and privileges, but still struggling with issues and feelings of emptiness. This song is a sweet example of how talented these guys are as songwriters. “I’ve been right and I’ve been good, and I’ve sung songs where Jesus has stood.” Oh yeah, and the guitar on this track is probably my favorite on the album.

Okay, as I always do, I’ve saved my favorite track for last, “Cul de Sac.” The mandolin on this track is where I hear that Okkervil River likeness, and I freakin love it. This is another rocker, with a chorus that will stick in your head for days. I also love the backing vocals that make this thing feel really big and dramatic.

So, those are the only four songs that we’re going to be giving away, but there’s one more that I really want y’all to hear. “Eventually” is an absolutely beautiful song that tells a great story about hope and faith.

It wouldn’t be a proper post if I didn’t give you a video, so here’s a live performance of “Roll the Dice.” Give it a whirl, and be sure to check the tour dates below to see these guys in your neck of the woods! - Front Porch Musings

"Ascension, you are mine! Kingsley Flood are easily one of the most talented bands on this list. Moving effortlessly through the worlds of Americana and Folk, the word is getting out on this Boston secret. Highly Recommended, Best of the Year so far in New England," - Ryan Spaulding - Ryan's Smashing Life