The National Trust
Kings & Queens
Release Date: Jan 24, 2006
Genre(s): Indie, Rock
Record label: Thrill Jockey
Music Critic Score
How the Music Critic Score works
Album Review: Kings & Queens by The National Trust
Average, Based on 2 Critics
Based on rating 5/10
A much more elaborate and slicker production than 2002's Dekkagar, the National Trust's second album involves a supporting cast numbering in the thirties. The help includes session bassist Charles Hosch (the Emotions, Teddy Pendergrass), engineer Abel Garabaldi (R. Kelly, Ciara), and an eight-piece horn section called Hypnotic (all members are the offspring of AACM co-founder and early Sun Ra Arkestra vet Phil Cohran).
Opinion: Mediocre
Kings & Queens, the second album of late-’70s, funk-into-disco glitz from The National Trust, falls flat. More like faithful reiterations of soul cliches than anything fresh or interesting, nearly every track will remind you of someone else: "New Sexy Touch" of Diamonds & Pearls-vintage Prince, "Secrets" of disco-fied George Benson, "It's Just Cruel" of Earth Wind & Fire's fantasmagoric dance phase, "Shapes & Sizes" of Chic's bass-and-hi-hat overdrives. While the details are right, there's something hollow at the core.