Skeletons and the Kings of All Cities

LUCAS

(Ghostly)

Record Review by Adam McKibbin

Matt Mehlan’s Skeletons have grown up, shedding the “Girl-Faced Boys” monikers and becoming “Kings of All Cities.”  Despite the bolder name, though, the essence of Skeletons has remained the same, which means that they actually are unlikely to be the kings of any cities - they operate mostly on the fringe, inspiring loyal subjects but not participating in the sort of pandering that would be required to raise a legion of fans to their feet.  All of that presumably suits Skeletons (and their scatted subjects) just fine.

While still chasing Mehlan’s muse all over the album, Skeletons have become a more collaborative band, which is plainly evident in the loosely structured psychedelic jams that occasionally break out.  There are eight members of the core group, creating a collision of free jazz, watery electronica and, somewhat like Panda Bear, a lurking pop prowess that intermittently peeks its head above the layers of enticing oddities.

Mehlan’s lyrics are reliably cryptic, but he’s not just threading words together - there’s meaning to be found.  Sometimes the lyrics are structured as dialogue (“I said, ‘I know them rules you want to be set, but that shit ain’t illegal yet!’”) and sometimes as a conversation with itself (“How do you know?  I know.  How do you know?  I know because I’ve tried.”)  There are fragments of environmental concern, asexual references to “fake tits” and “hard cocks in tight jeans” and, in conclusion, the threat of mortality set against a precisely realized urban backdrop (“Down down down past the ninety-nine cent stores, past the barber shops that sell mixtapes and haircuts…”).

The fount of inspiration for LUCAS is a small Kansas town of the same name, which contains a “Garden of Eden” cement sculpture garden depicting Biblical characters and allegorical Americana that anticipates the specter of corporate takeovers.  Like Skeletons, the garden makes sense and no sense all at the same time, leaving the observer to wonder “How did they come up with this?”