King Khan And The Shrines

King Khan first got noticed for his collaboration with fellow garage-rock revivalist Mark Sultan in their band King Khan & BBQ Show—which spectacularly imploded while on tour last summer due, in part, to Khan’s erratic behavior. But his best work yet has been with his backing band The Shrines, whose pile-driving rhythms bring out the soul shouter in him. Drawing equally on the turbocharged strut of Stax Records’ heyday and acid-damaged Nuggets psychedelia, the band fearlessly commingles styles like so many bodily fluids. Its records—including What Is?!, an 2007 album just treated to a U.S. release in 2009—and especially its raucous performances set it apart from the studied poses of inferior garage cultists. Khan’s sharp (and occasionally filthy) wit keeps the music firmly in the present. 

Updated 09/23/2010