So let’s talk about The Kings of Frog Island for a minute. The Leicester, UK-based four-piece heavy psychedelic wander-rockers released their aptly-titled seventh album, VII (review here), last year in a continuing alliance with Kozmik Artifactz, having persisted through working remotely outside of their usual practice space/recording studio/hangout spot in order to make it during pandemic lockdown. Watching them perform some of that material and older songs from prior albums, I can’t help but think of the passage of time.

It’s been 17 years since The Kings of Frog Island put out their self-titled debut on Elektrohasch Schallplatten, which like the subsequent two albums was fronted by Mathew Bethancourt of Josiah. With the lineup of Mark Buteaux, Gavin Searle, Lee Madel-Toner and Jim Robinson, the band continues to move forward, and VII, like each new subsequent offering they make, blends casual, off-the-cuff-sounding jams and psychedelics with more solidified heavy rock and roll impulses. They sneak hooks in, man. “Summer Sun,” which appears in this set, is a perfect example.

To bottom-line it, I’ve been listening to this band for more than a decade and a half — I remember when the first record came in the mail — and I’ve never had the chance to see them. I hum these songs throughout the day (especially after watching the clip) and though they’ve never toured and don’t really play out, their music still resonates. Watching this full set, their if-you-kn0w-you-know vibe is right on where you’d want it to be, and the show feels more like a party than a gig, which it may well have been and which I’d hope that, if I was ever so lucky as to encounter them live, any such experience might be.

I’m not thinking of this as a ‘premiere’ or anything like that, but I don’t think this set is public yet otherwise, so if you want to call it one, that’s fine. More important to me is to post about a band I’ve dug for a long time and maybe catch a glimpse of what I’ve been missing all that while. Seems pretty straightforward, so all the better that the music itself isn’t shy about meandering here and there.

As always, I hope you enjoy:

The Kings of Frog Island, Live at Soundhouse, Leicester, UK, 10.02.21

The Kings of Frog Island: Live at Soundhouse Leicester 2nd October 2021

The gig was postponed due to lockdown in Leicester. We were about to start rehearsal the same week lockdown started. March 2020.

As we couldn’t meet we made VII almost entirely remotely, by sending files back and forth, sometimes with comical results. Mainly vox starting in the wrong place.

When we were allowed to meet, restrictions allowed up to 6 people outside so rehearsal started in our gardens. Videos on YouTube channel.

Stayfree opened just 6 weeks before the gig, which didn’t give us long to prepare. However we have been playing together for years and this comes across in this video.

We love our studio but every now and again we do something live locally and it usually has a party atmosphere. Looking to do another October 2022.

Psychedelic Space Rock, Stoner, Doom, Ambient and Drop Tuned Rock.

Recorded at Soundhouse by Keith Johnstone

The Kings of Frog Island are:
Mark Buteux
Gavin Searle
Lee Madel-Toner
Jim Robinson

The Kings of Frog Island on Facebook

The Kings of Frog Island on YouTube

The Kings of Frog Island on CDBaby

Kozmik Artifactz website

Kozmik Artifactz on Facebook

Tags: Kozmik Artifactz, Leicester, The Kings of Frog Island, The Kings of Frog Island VII, UK, VII

This entry was posted on Thursday, April 21st, 2022 at 11:04 am and is filed under Bootleg Theater. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.