Marcus King – Young Blood

Marcus King (born March 11, 1996) is an American musician, singer, songwriter and guitarist. He is best known as the frontman, lead singer and guitarist for The Marcus King Band. A guitarist who plays and sings with an impressive degree of seasoned maturity and passion, Marcus King delivers a hearty mixture of soul, blues, rock, and jazz that has made him a star on the blues and jam band circuits. On his debut album, 2015's "Soul Insight", King and his band generated a powerful, guitar-based attack rooted in high-impact blues and southern soul, while 2016's "The Marcus King Band" took a more eclectic approach, with the more dynamic numbers revealing a gentler aspect, showing the influence of gospel and folk. 2020's "El Dorado" was King's first album as a solo act, and put a greater emphasis on his strengths as a vocalist, and his love of blues-based classic rock of the 1970s dominated 2022's hard-edged "Young Blood". Marcus King may only be 26 years old, but deep down there is an old soul. Jimi Hendrix, Led Zeppelin, Free. It is the greats of the past that provide King with inspiration. Just to emphasize in the title that he has not yet passed the age of thirty, the American must have thought. "Young Blood" emphasizes that for someone of King's talent, 'decent' is not enough. "Young Blood" is King's second solo album produced by The Black Keys' Dan Auerbach. The influence of Auerbach is clearly audible. The blues-infused sound is covered with a rattling garage rock layer. It fits perfectly with the premise of "Young Blood" : don't elaborate too much, plug in instruments and see where the ship runs aground. The vast majority of songs were put together within a few hours. The result is eleven tracks with a relaxed vibe, with little or no compromise on quality. Successively 'It's Too Late', 'Lie Lie Lie', 'Rescue Me', 'Pain' and 'Good And Gone' are all pretty good blues rock tracks, but very much of the same cloth one after the other. It is well made, one ('Good And Gone') just a bit grittier than the other ('Rescue Me'), and strongly sung. But it was. No rebound anywhere. No surprises. Your chin never hangs on the floor in amazement. It is well cooked with the same main ingredient in various variations, but a change of food ultimately results in real food. The spell isn't really broken until "Young Blood" is halfway through. 'Blood On The Tracks' is quite different from the music up to that point and therefore feels like after five tasty, but ordinary chocolate bars you finally find that golden wrapper. 'Blood On The Tracks' has a high Creedence Clearwater Revival level with a groovy rhythm, overwhelmingly good vocals and Auerbach who provides extra gravy with the mellotron on his hands. A wonderful piece of unadulterated swamp rock. It seems that King mainly used the first five tracks to warm up and then race full throttle towards the end of the record. Because the second half of "Young Blood" has a lot more variety. The stomping 'Aim High' shows how much control King has over both his voice and his guitar. Heartbreaking screams and howling guitar solos fly towards you. 'Dark Cloud' stands out because of the combination of rough verses and a more clean chorus. And the words of closing track 'Blues Worse Than I Ever Had' not only come straight from King's heart, the interaction between the subdued vocals and the pronounced guitar work has an effect. Those looking for a pleasant blues rock record should not ignore "Young Blood" by Marcus King. However, don't expect to push boundaries. King relies heavily on the music his idols already made some fifty years ago and hardly deviates from his line. After his visit to Rock Werchter, Marcus King has gained a lot of name recognition in Belgium. The American star guitarist has already released a few singles, which were a foretaste of "Young Blood". By the way, the album is already the fifth in King's discography. He previously released three albums with The Marcus King Band and in 2020 he released his very first solo album to the world with "El Dorado". It must be that his solo album went well for him, because two years later it is time for its successor. Where we sometimes found "El Dorado" a bit too good, we now hoped in advance for an even more mature sound with an unpolished surface here and there. Opener "It's Too Late" shows us that that step may well have been taken. Logically, the fuzzy guitars sound a bit dirtier and louder, which immediately draws attention. We immediately get the first solo in and that is exactly what gives Marcus Kings music an extra layer. On "Lie Lie Lie" that line is nicely continued and in addition to the excellent guitar playing, we should certainly also talk about the voice of the young man, which comes into its own even better during these kind of uptempo songs. The rawness drips from his voice and despite that he manages to amaze us time and again with high-pitched screams, as we can hear on "Good and Gone". King can sing like a soul singer, but can lash out just as well as a real blues singer. In terms of singing style, he reminds us at times of Walter Trout. "Blood on the Tracks" is a bit more laid-back and that is a refreshment after the heavier songs. The only drawback is that his guitar also disappears more into the background. Fortunately, he immediately comes to the fore in "Hard Working Man". It might even be the best song on the entire album, because his guitar is loud, his voice is full of soul and the whole thing just sounds very catchy, as far as blues rock can get catchy of course. As is almost always the case with blues rock, a lot of songs sound the same up to a certain level. The art lies in keeping the music interesting and let that be exactly what King manages to achieve with such songs. If all that guitar violence wasn't enough, there's also "Aim High", on which we are presented with the two longest and most impressive guitar solos of this album. Closing song "Blues Worse Than I Ever Had" is a lot calmer and is therefore also the ideal closing track. The sluggishness gives the listener time to look back on what a record full of fat guitars and fantastic vocals this is. With this album Marcus King takes the last step towards musical maturity. If he continues as he is currently doing, his name will soon be mentioned in conversations about who is the best contemporary guitarist. His singing should of course not be overlooked and that ensures that the American can show off several major assets. The combination of all those facets was there, of course, but now that King is no longer hiding behind mid-tempo songs, this comes into its own even more. King is ready for stardom. Now as Marcus embarks upon the release of his latest project, "Young Blood", he has become a musical juggernaut ... plain and simple. On this release, Marcus draws from some of his musical influences and states that his vision was to capture the sound of some of the "classic power trios" such as Jimi Hendrix and ZZ Top. He does not disappoint. King once again enlisted the expertise of Dan Auerbach to produce and Allen Parker to engineer the project, who worked on his Grammy Nominated project, "El Dorado". The production on this release is raw and larger than life. The release focus on Marcus's virtuoso guitar playing, his powerhouse vocals, and a stellar rhythm section for the base tracks on the record. It's reminiscent of the time when classic rock ruled the airwaves, and music took you on a journey to a different place. "It's Too Late" is the blistering lead track of off "Young Blood". My first reaction when I heard it was "Finally ! Marcus is doing the Rock Record ! " "It's Too Late" is a song about a failed relationship and conveys his thoughts perfectly with the attitude we've all wished we've had at some point after a break up. "Hard Working Man" was the first single off of the release, and it quickly reminded me of classic Steve Miller Band. It's a feel-good anthem, that initially gave me hope that this release could be stylistically different that some of his earlier releases. Marcus's raspy voice seems to perfectly weave between the catchy melody of the chorus and the guitar driven track. "Rescue Me" is a mid-tempo song that deals with overcoming struggles and difficult times in your life. When listening to this track, you get a sense of Marcus's past pain and that this song was his therapeutic release from those emotions. The production is "swampy" similar to that of Creedence at its prime and is a perfect canvas for his lyrical journey. "Blood on the Tracks" is one of the most anthemic tracks on the release. The verses and chorus instantly get stuck in your head, and before you know it you're singing the song all day. This is no surprise when I found out that the song was co-written by iconic song writer Desmond Child (Aerosmith, KISS, Bon Jovi). The production on this track is not as intense as others, but stylistically it still works well with the other songs on the project and is one of the stand out tracks. "Lie, Lie, Lie" is one of the songs on the release that most captures the "classic rock trio" feel and reminds the listener of the little old band from Texas. This track features some of Marcus's fiercest guitar playing on the release which is perfectly paired with the powerhouse drums and bass on the track. "Blues Worse Than I Ever Had" is the final track on the release and is more reminiscent of some of his earlier Americana leaning songs. The subject matter of the track deals with a time in Marcus's past when he (by his own admission) was over medicating and eventually had to deal with the loss of a family member. This is the rock record I've been wanting to hear from Marcus ever since the release of "Soul Insight". Whether he's playing the Ryman Auditorium with Billy Strings, opening for Chris Stapleton, or sitting in with Eric Clapton, he is a true musical force to be reckoned with. Marcus has done a seemingly effortless job of weaving through different genres of music whether it be rock, blues, soul, or country. Young Blood is an incredible rock record, and will surely catapult his career to new heights. Marcus King broke from his own Marcus King Band for "El Dorado", a 2020 album that found him digging deep into his soul roots. His navigator on that departure was Dan Auerbach, the chief Black Key who established a roots-rock enterprise as the proprietor and producer at Easy Eye Sound. The pair reunite on "Young Blood", the 2022 record that suggests King is now a lone wolf, as it returns the hotshot guitarist to the music that made his bones: big, thick blues-rock, saturated in volume and fuzz. Where the Marcus King Band used to roam and ramble, patterning their loose-limbed gait on the Allman Brothers Band, Auerbach keeps King on the straight and narrow. Of the 11 tracks on "Young Blood", only one inches over the five-minute mark, while most of the cuts hover somewhere between three and four minute, the ideal length for a pop song. These tunes are definitely not pop songs, they're rooted in the blues, heavy on guitar and testifying vocals, yet the succinct structure means the hooks and melodies sink their hooks; they're not lost in a maze of winding improvisations. Credit also goes to Auerbach, who keeps things lively and colorful, making sure the sonics shift just enough from track to track to give the record momentum. He also plays up King's allusions to classic rock, letting nods to Creedence Clearwater Revival ("Rescue Me") and Grand Funk Railroad ("Dark Cloud") linger in the air, acting as a common language to reveal what King brings to these familiar sounds. King may be letting his feelings spill onto the page here, his originals were written in the wake of a bad 2021 breakup, but his signature stamp isn't emotionality so much as it's enthusiasm. He gets a thrill out of cranking up his amp and trying to sing as loud as his guitar, and that's the energy that truly fuels "Young Blood".

1 It's Too Late 2:56

2 Lie Lie Lie 3:35

3 Rescue Me 4:46

4 Pain 4:22

5 Good And Gone 3:20

6 Blood On The Tracks 3:58

7 Hard Working Man 3:37

8 Aim High 5:13

9 Dark Cloud 3:45

10 Whisper 3:38

11 Blues Worse Than I Ever Had 3:31