Kingsley Flood “The Good Fight” Album Review

Kingsley Flood has always been a band that’s hard to pin down and their new EP, The Good Fight, continues their tendency to draw on a variety of genres and styles to create a unique, authentic sound. There are elements folk, punk, and rock music that really gel–in part because you can tell that they’re not jumping on any bandwagons; they’re playing what feels right.

The past couple of years have brought issues of social justice to mainstream attention in a way perhaps not seen since the late 1960s and the title track reflects on the implications for individuals living in an inequitable society–especially those of us who benefit from it. “I’d fight the good fight if I could,” Naseem Khuri sings while the instrumentation seems to echo the unrest that you would have to deliberately ignore to be unaware of these days. The song fades out, “We’ll see, we’ll see” and feels like a challenge, or at least an invitation to introspection.
The EP starts with “Good Old Wind,” a driving fiddle melody and strong lyrics that remind me of The Clash, almost satirically invoking the racist sentiments of folks who never want their communities to change: “When the customers come with a name he can’t sound / He says, ‘This old town is going down.’”

It’s a very hard balance to write songs that are thoughtful and catchy, and Kingsley Flood does that really well. Eva Walsh’s work on the fiddle and George Hall’s spare and cutting guitar solos draw you in as a listener and Khuri’s confidence as a frontman is really evident in this release. It’s well worth a listen.
You can stream the EP at Stereogum and pick it up at their show at The Sinclair on Friday, November 20.