King Kobra returns with a slamming second album featuring singer Paul Shortino out front. Reuniting in 2010, the band tested the waters with a self-titled album, bearing all the trademark 80s maneuvers that initially set the band apart (aside from every member but drummer Carmine Appice sporting blonde locks) from the pack. King Kobra II is a different animal, boiling over with sharp-edged playing, Appice’s in-the-pocket beat, Shortino’s gritty, soulful vocals and a sonic attack that recalls the best of the working- class bands of the 70s ala Montrose, Bad Company and even Appice’s own Cactus.
Instead of playing by the numbers, the band shakes things down to their foundations. David Michael-Philips, Mick Sweda and Johnny Rod provide plenty of muscle in the guitar and bass department, unleashing a barrage of power chords and spine-tingling breaks. One spin of ‘Don’t Keep Me Waiting” should convince you of that. But let’s cut back to the album’s openers. “Hell On Wheels” and “Knock ‘Em Dead” both burn with quick and heavy intensity, allowing Shortino to easily slip and slide through on the verses and choruses. When it comes to the lovable “Have A Good Time,” it isn’t exactly rocket science, but the song touches the good time nerve without much need for afterthought. The video really puts an emphasis on the “good time” the band clearly likes to have. Imagine that.
At the core of King Kobra II are prime examples of how deep the band was willing to go (with a little prompting from their record label) in terms of stretching out and invoking their influences (in Appice’s case, his roots). The first hint is on “When The Hammer Comes Down,” which lifts off like a spinning top while Shortino does his best James Brown. From there, it morphs into a hip-shaking groove. At seven-minutes-plus, “Deep River” goes for broke with a chug-a-lug, Zeppelinesque hook that develops into a blues-soaked epic – a masterstroke that makes you wish King Kobra was more than a band filled with guys with other projects loaded up their plates. Whether it’s good enough to get them out on the road, or it’s going to take a King Kobra IV (III came out in 1988), the clear winner is anyone with a yen for hard and heavy rock and roll.
~ Shawn Perry
