Kingsley Flood: "I Don't Want to Go Home"

Last week it was Song of the Day on NPR; this week they’re giving it away for free. Just tell all your friends, you heard them here first on CMG. Kingsley Flood are back, and after the country scuzz of last year’s debut, Naseem Khuri’s highfalutin folk sextet feels considerably more full of beans. You remember early Razorlight? Before they all looked like this? Khuri’s tuned into that same strutting energy and whipped it to the mid west of America, capitalizing nicely on the After Rapture atmosphere now that God’s failed to turn up and judge shit. “I don’t wanna go home / But thanks for the offer,” tubthumps Khuri, his band members each given a pass to let loose, their pianos and banjos happily stumbling. It’s like watching a chain gang on fast forward, and Khuri’s lyrics are so up and jumpy it’s a wonder the whole song doesn’t collapse and give itself a compound ankle injury, just through the excitement.

Fighting against dizzying sax pieces and one rambunctious guitar solo, Khuri barks the story of a man not wishing to face his house after a primeval night on the tiles. Even though he loves his wife, and the pictures she hangs, and knows she can cook a devilish pecan pie, he’d rather comb the town for a bar that’ll still serve him, smashing up his car like McNulty. The song keeps cantering as Jack refuses to stop partying, letting off streamers while lost in a simple yet fiendishly addictive melody. There’s not a raft, river or whiskey still in sight, but when it comes to resurrecting the longshoreman vibe, this guy’s practically Pap Finn.

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