"kiss feet and wait for a payment / have you got the lines to say yes / you lick boots and watch your stocks grow / collect the bruises to your ego..."
The beautiful rebellion of "Not My King", by Chicago's indie rock quintet Champions, most likely caught on fire by the lightning seeds of the NO KINGS protests and the descend into autocracy and mafia like corruption that spurred them on, is truly an exquisitely artful protest song. As I listen to it on repeat to discover all the nuances and moving, pretty embellishments, the depth of songwriting is evident in so many ways, some of the energy feeling adjacent to iconic bands and some feeling utterly surprising, which is the very best thing you want to feel, hear, experience when getting into a new song, new artist / band.
Some of these striations of sound, the rocking, galloping drums like folk rock swept heartland rock (The War On Drugs / Titus Andronicus come to mind) or bob and weave through pained melancholy, even dour mazes punctuated with booming basslines and sparkling spare piano (Arcade Fire, Los Campesinos! flash in my head) and punk caked indie rock punches (Pixies / Modest Mouse on post it notes). There is so much to get lost in, I also appreciate the passionate vocal countenance, appropriately bruised and broken.
Great stuff, indeed.
LINER NOTES (excerpted / bracketed):
[When a people get to a point and can see all the inequality and injustice of a system, they’re going to gather up their pitchforks and torches and start a revolution. The people who hold the power want to be kings, but they seem to forget that there are no kings. This song is about what's currently going on in the world.]
"Written in response to what's going on in the US. People see all the inequality and injustice, so gather up pitchforks and torches and start a revolution, enough is enough. There are no kings."
[CHAMPIONS has re-launched with their new self-titled EP (mastered by the legendary Jack Endino), bringing back their passionate indie rock for the current times.]
-Robb Donker Curtius
The Chicken Wheel will take you to the AP Go Fund Me- and any amount is so appreciated!
https://www.instagram.com/championschicago
https://www.facebook.com/championschicago
With love, from Chicago, Illinois. Jacob, Adam, Arthur, Michael, and Sean. Layers of gritty tone and evocative lyrics encompass life as loud and directly as possible. CHAMPIONS has re-launched with their new self-titled EP (mastered by the legendary Jack Endino), bringing back their passionate indie rock for the current times.
The Chicken Wheel will take you to the AP Go Fund Me- and any amount is so appreciated!
THE FACTS AS WE KNOW THEM
https://www.instagram.com/championschicago
https://www.facebook.com/championschicago
With love, from Chicago, Illinois. Jacob, Adam, Arthur, Michael, and Sean. Layers of gritty tone and evocative lyrics encompass life as loud and directly as possible. CHAMPIONS has re-launched with their new self-titled EP (mastered by the legendary Jack Endino), bringing back their passionate indie rock for the current times.
Champions, Chicago indie rock quintet, alt rock, garage rock, politico rock, "Not My King", self-titled EP (mastered by the legendary Jack Endino), No Kings protest, social commentary, "CHAMPIONS" EP,
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