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Apr 25, 2009 Web Exclusive By Frank Valish

Ken Stringfellow has already made a name for himself in discerning music circles as half of the songwriting core of Washington power-pop band The Posies. Yet he has always made time for other musical projects, some more well known (Big Star, R.E.M.) and some less so (The Orange Humble Band, Twin Princess, etc.), all the while maintaining a successful solo career. With THE DiSCiPLiNES, Stringfellow has taken one of his biggest musical left turns, and he sounds more energized than he has since Frosting on the Beater. Now based in Paris, Stringfellow finds himself leading three-fourths of the Norwegian pop band Briskeby in a lean, mean, garage-rock attack. SMOKiNG KiLLS blisters with hard rock energy, screaming guitar solos, thumping bass lines (dig the “Detroit Rock City” riff on “Yours for the Taking”), and Stringfellow’s hollering and wailing though 13 tracks of bitchin’ bliss. Don’t discount the pop smarts of Stringfellow and his Briskeby bandmates, as melodies still abound (as well as some harmonies), but this is Stringfellow unleashed. Who knew he had it in him? As he sings in the stand out “Best Mistake:” “Pull the pin on the grenade.” With SMOKiNG KiLLS, he sure has. (www.thedisciplines.com)

Author rating: 7/10