Download Kingface MP3s

The endlessly storied 1980's hardcore scene based around Washington DC is a topic I spent a good deal of time obsessing over during my formative years as a fan of the weirdo music. Every rotten generation has musical saving graces of one sort or another, and being a dispossessed and underachieving teenager while Government Issue, Scream, Shudder to Think, Beefeater, Soul Side, and a then-new group called Fugazi (click any band name to stream songs in Real Audio from the WFMU archives) were doing their thing is something that I still feel pretty fortunate for, given that most of my peers seemed eerily satisfied with the flaccid metal and pantywaist pop of that same era.

In 1984, I'd only been to DC once (with my parents, on vacation) but a handful of years later, I could rattle off two dozen miniscule bands, the names of the clubs they played at, what bands the members had been in previously, and all sorts of other esoteric crap that probably contributed to my nearly flunking out of school several times prior to graduation. It's a pretty typical phenomenom, actually, and I can sense a few of you shaking your heads right now with the recognition.

Always being the sort that was drawn to the outsider amongst the outsiders, one DC band that has remained a source of immense joy for me so many years later is Kingface. Although they performed alongside all the fabled bands who propelled the Dischord record label to international prominence as a premier source of underground rock music, Kingface was neither A.) a hardcore band, or B.) part of Dischord's roster of bands.

Weirder still, Kingface played -- what is upon multiple inspection -- music undeniably akin to hard rock. (Click here to stream Real Audio of Kingface performing "Dirty Wings".) Big riffs, guitar solos, pick slides, wailing frontman -- the works. And aside from being ace songwriters, what made them truly unique is that they approached that sound with the do-it-yourself aesthetic of their pals in punk bands. Effectively stripped of the baggage of their corporate rock non-brethren, Kingface's existence exposed those who practiced the MTV method for the lightweights they truly were. They released two brilliant records: the self-titled "black record" (years before Metallica pulled that same trick) and the "Everywhere You Look" EP on the European Konkurrel label. Their music also had a fist-in-the-air fuck-yeah! factor that went miles off the meter, and has aged more stylishly than a lot of other efforts from that era. Moreover, they never felt it was beyond their reach to close a show with an encore of Van Halen's "Ain't Talkin' Bout Love". Party with me, Punker? You ain't just whistlin' dixie, pal.

America at large didn't notice them, of course, and most of the hardcore kids didn't get it either, but within that musical community, Kingface earned some diehard fans who appreciated their unique voice in a universe of screaming bald heads and songs about Reagan. They addressed the political in no less an urgent voice than their peers, but with a very different sense of methodology and discipline. And they had a harmonica intro in one of their songs. (Click here to stream Real Audio of Kingface performing "Crawl into Tomorrow" from the WFMU archives.)

Over the years, my appreciation for Kingface continued to grow (weirdly, since my general taste in music drifted further away from rock & roll), culminating in two events which I remain enormously proud of:

In 1997, Kingface played a reunion gig at the (now-defunct) Brownies nightclub in New York City. At that same time, I was the co-editor of a zine that I like to think was part of some sort of last hurrah for NYC zine culture (it was shortly after we quit publishing that most of our publishing contemporaries either did the same or went online), so the co-editor and I arranged for an interview with Kingface frontman Mark Sullivan, which appeared in the 5th issue. Mark offered some great perspective on the origins of the band, as well as some fantastic stories from his own musical beginnings, including tales from the Teen Idles' (featuring future members of Minor Threat and Youth Brigade) 1980 tour of California, for which he roadied.

About six years later, thanks to the miracle of Google, I hooked up via email with Kingface axeman Patrick Bobst and after swapping some appreciative recollections of the band, he rewarded me with an incredible recording of Kingface recorded live-off-the-board at Washinton DC's 9:30 Club, in 1988. I aired the entirety of this paint-peeling recording on my December 16th, 2003 radio show, and then engaged in a great on-air chat with Pat, the course of which revealed yet more stories from their existence, but with the benefit of some historical perspective. You can stream the Real Audio of my conversation with Pat by clicking here.

The archive of that radio show has, since 2003, generated more email for me than any other special program or live broadcast I've ever done. Usually, the emails are from people who echo the above sentiment in some way -- that Kingface's anomaly status had earned them a special place in the collective memory of those around at the time. And that was usually followed up with a desperate plea for a CD copy of the recording, since WFMU's only permanent record was the 20k Real Audio archive. With full permission of Mark Sullivan (vocals), Larry Colbert (drums), Andy Rapoport (bass), and Patrick Bobst (guitar) I am pleased and honored to now offer the full performance in the form of these thirteen MP3s of Kingface recorded live off-the-board at Washington DC's 9:30 Club, 1988.

Right-click each song title to download: Life Keeps Getting Longer -- I Don't Want to be Anything -- My Only Sin -- Lullabye -- Joy and Poison -- Body is Your Mind -- Crawl into Tomorrow -- Lick the Moon -- Dirty Water Come -- Words Taste Good -- Everywhere you Look -- Read my Back -- Ain't Talkin 'bout Love

Kingface packed it up about a year after this show was played, reforming only the one time mentioned above to play a handful of shows, and to record a 7" for the Akashic book publisher/record label, which is still available here. The two 12"s were re-issued on CD by Amanda MacKaye sometime in the late 90s, but that disc is sadly out of print along with the original EPs. The band members have all gone on to other projects, musical and otherwise. Mark Sullivan did extensive touring with Fugazi, performed with his brother Bobby (of Soul Side) in the group Sevens, and wrote a book called "Jonah Sees Ghosts", which you can read the first chapter of and/or buy here. He is currently a webmaster and tech-columnist for intrust.org and ivillage.com. Larry Colbert may or may not own a drum kit anymore, and is a museum specialist at the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, in Washington DC. Patrick Bobst can be found these days hanging out with his family, occasionally lecturing me on the merits and virtues of Led Zeppelin's "Achilles' Last Stand", and playing in a band called Spare Jane. Andy Rapoport is in the Evil Apple, still rocking out with Hoy, who play around town quite frequently and attract multitudes of beautiful 30ish women to their shows.

Ladies and Gentlemen, give it up for King Face.

 

Comments

[Bryant Liggett]

I must agree. I lived in DC (well, outside the city in MD) the first 26 years of my life and got to see many of those great bands, including KINGFACE multiple times. I was at the show that is available for download. Yes, exciting band, very cool, the ultimate rock and roll package. I've got the records, the one CD and love it. Thanks!

[rob conger]

Just adding a fan's anecdote: they played Virginia Beach in 87 or 88...I was definately not supposed to be in bars back then... can't remember if it was them and the Bad Brains or the Descendents... or All... or, well, anyway, I just remember they were amazing, and the whole sound (Scream, Rites of Spring, Kingface) at the time was totally different than anything else out there, and it's amazing how obscure some of these bands still remain, despite the mainstream acceptance of "Emo" some years ago...
glad to see they all made it out alive, and I think I might rush to a Hoy show soon...

[F.Baube]

9:30 was the place to be. Pick hit: "Easter Island" by Strange Boutique.

[Taylor Crown]

Hey Rob, what's up! I was at those early Kingface shows in VB- I think the first one was at 17th st, with Face Reality, Shudder to Think, etc.

They were the best, period.

[Karl U]

Yes, I believe I was at this show as well...standing alongside Mr. Dave Grohl (then merely the drummer for the equally underrated Scream) and the other DC luminaries who worshipped at the throne of the Almighty Kingface. It really was a pivotal moment in my existence, and made me for better or worse a)the owner of the record store that I am now and b)a fan of early Van Halen, which was definitely not punk-approved at the time.
Good times. And the sentiment holds up to this day.

[Andrew]

Its about time! King Face were criminally underrated, even at the time. Their records really should be back in print.

[Phill]

I recently got hold of the CD with the two 12"s on and there's another four unreleased extra tracks on as well: Tired, Lick the Moon, My Favorite Movie is Life and Dirty Wings. Thing is I knew these songs and was singing along to at least two of 'em the first time I played the CD so I must've had them on some format back in the late 80s when I lived in Holland. Was there a demo of these songs doing the rounds then?

[Mike Lupica]

"Dirty Wings" was on the State of the Union compilation (which was released on Dischord, contrary to my saying above that KF wasn't "a Dischord band".) The other songs you mentioned could have been on a live 2x7", called "Motherfucker Read My Back", I think, which I carelessly forgot to mention in this post. Apologies for this oversight.

[Andy]

Actually, "Dirty Wings", "Tired", "Lick the Moon", and "My Favorite Movie is Life" were the first studio recordings we ever did. They were recorded at Inner Ear with Ian producing. That initial 4-song demo tape wound up getting around quite a bit (...and Mike was right, we used "Dirty Wings" for the State of the Union, and that version of "Lick the Moon" for the first EP.).

[Andrew]

My band had the honor of playing with Kingface at the Hung Jury in Washington, DC in the 80's. As a bass player myself, I always looked up to their four-string axeman as an example of what real rock-n-roll was all about. We held our own that night, but those old guys really showed us young punks a thing or two. I'm glad to hear Andy and the rest of the boys are still alive. Rock on!

[gwadzilla]

KING FACE ROCKED!
in a time when it was tears and flowers...
King Face came out with RAW TESTOSTERONE
boldly taking the stage with the bravado of the first incarnation of Van Halen

today after dropping my older son off for a little Anarchy in the Pre-K I went to Home Depot
as I drove cross town I jumped from station to station
settling in on some classic rock

sat back and listened to a David Lee Roth Van Halen Classic
I thought back to 7th grade... when I was listening to the Clash and the Sex Pistols my friend and rival was listening to Van Halen
he had a boy girl party at his house
when I let my guard down and listened to a few songs from Van Halen I.... I understood what he heard

King Face existed in a punk scene and got mixed reviews
some people were not open to Mark Sullivan's bare chest
or the bands stage persona

they were more EGO than EMO
and well
that just was not fashionable for the time

so...
today on this rainy day home from work
I plan on finding my KINGFACE cd that was artfully designed by Jason Farrell and drop that disc into my iTunes then onto my iPod

(the first Rites of Spring and Government Issue Joy Ride may have to be part of the process as well)

[Earthdog70]

Great post and great tunes.

Hopefully you can toss up a live Soulside show on the next go round!

[Angst]

me being the idiot i am lent the kingface black album to a "friend" and knew as it was leaving my sight I would never see it again.

And I sure haven't...

Least I now have the live recordings, I will find that album again... someday

ACTION TIME!

[jericho buffet nubbs]

Email Cynthia @Discord, there may still be a few Kingface CDs (a 15 track self released compilation of their 3 records) available. Anyway, I was there in the day, they were my favorite band from DC. Played a show with them and Shudder to Think and Marginal Man in late 87-early 88 I belive. By the way I was in IMAGES and E.O.R if anyone remembers and I also am responsible for ghost writing most of MOSS ICONs first 7 inch. JBN

[leonardo bianco]

KING FACE... the most rarely band from W.DC... I like very much... and thanks for this web-page to public this complete show...

[Meredith]

I came across this blog while reminiscing about Kingface with my husband (who was on the heavy metal scene, but did know of them) - I was a huge fan of theirs back in the day and went to all the shows I could. In fact, one of the best shows I ever saw was Kingface, Fire Party and Ignition. Thank you so much for posting about this phenomenal band. I still have "Everywhere You Look" on vinyl, but doesn't do me a lot of good since I don't have a record player anymore. Thank you so much for having downloadable MP3s here - now I can rock out again with one of my all time favorite bands (and yeah, I even had my leather jacket painted with their logo...)

[Phil]

Nuff respect to Kingface everytime!

Another good DC Rock band that played at punk shows was Mother May I.

[Peter]

Yeah, I really love Kingface...! Big passion on mine.