KINGHORSE "s/t" & "too far gone" CDs

In the late 80s and early 90s I was an avid reader of Thrasher magazine / Puszone (Artist Pushead’s feature column). For a few months I kept seeing these ads for a new Caroline release. The album was Kinghorse “self titled”. I was a little unsure of what to think of the ad for this unknown band (to me at least), but some things just kept pulling me towards wanting to check them out.

1. The cover art was drawn by none other than the legendary Pushead.
2. One of the band members was wearing a Bad Brains shirt in the group shot. Back then this was enough to make me want to buy a record.
3. The album was produced by Glen Danzig.

Even with all of these traits combined I was still hesitant. I’m still not sure why, probably because I was a broke ass little skate punk. Then a new skate video from Plan B Skateboards or maybe it was Girl Skateboards… either way the video came out and featured some amazing aggro segments of gnarly street skating accompanied by this raging unknown band. The songs fit the intense skating so well it made the video so much better and made me want to go wild in the streets “Thrashin” style. I checked the credits and wouldn’t you know it, it was Kinghorse. I was fucking stoked – time to go buy the CD. Their style of raw, balls out twist on punk, hardcore, and metal was right up my alley. All 4 members of this band have super strong elements that make them truly unique and powerful. Kinghorse started after Louisville band Maurice (who toured with Samhain) split up. 2 members went into Kinghorse and 2 other started the also legendary Slint.

I used to play this CD all of the time while I was on tour but no one else in the van ever appreciated it. In fact it got to the point where they thought I would just play it to drive everyone nuts but in truth I just loved it so much. It even came up as a discussion that I would no longer be allowed to play it in the van, Kinghorse was about to get vetoed which is just unacceptable. The tempo changes, hanging riffs, and dynamic vocals just made me want to go over the edge. But I guess the crazy vocals were a bit much for some people. Which ironically enough, I was in Brother’s Keeper who was notorious for our vocals, and no one in my band could stomach Kinghorse so go figure!?

Many years later I Stand Alone fanzine ran a very lengthy and in-depth interview with singer Sean. It was so long it spread through 2 issues. Adele I Stand Alone too had a soft spot for this Louisville, KY band. Louisville was one of those scenes were local bands could draw 500-1200 people a show and had a wide variety of talent & style unheard of throughout the rest of the US. Kinghorse were no different. Reading the interview it turns out that Danzig didn’t really have shit to do with producing their album, and I think he might have even chose the cover art more so than the band themselves. Kind of a bum out but interesting none the less. The band basically seemed like they weren’t into the album and the way it came out. Well I for one think it’s a great gem that more people should get into and give a chance. I purchased this CD probably in 1991 (I even have the CD longbox that they used to package CDs in back then – some of you younger whippersnappers will have no clue as to what I’m talking about) and it is still in heavy, heavy rotation here. I’ve always wanted to obtain a copy of it on LP but it’s been rather elusive so far. Turns out they had two 7” releases as well. After the Caroline CD local KY label Slamdek issued “Too Far Gone” which is basically all of their unreleased work from 1988-92. I have included both for your enjoyment as I believe both are out of print. I’m curious to hear some feedback on these guys, I’m guessing it’s not everyone’s cup of tea but that’s okay because I’ll always be a diehard listener. It seems that was always the case for Kinghorse, just never really fitting in anywhere in particular. This is probably why I like them so much myself. If I could get my hands on a Kinghorse shirt, now that would be something else! It's kind of crazy when you look back and think "Shit, I've been listening to this record for 15+ years!"

12 unreleased MP3s & homage to the band site: http://www.louisvillehardcore.com/bands/kinghorse/
Check out the Kinghorse fan myspace page: http://www.myspace.com/kinghorse502
Bio info here: http://history.louisvillehardcore.com/index.php?title=Kinghorse

DOWNLOAD:

http://www.mediafire.com/download/186yrjbb444ddre/Kinghorse.zip

KINGHORSE "self titled" LP/CD
1990 Caroline Records - Recorded by Steve Ett @ Chung King NYC

KINGHORSE "too far gone" CD (unreleased material from 88-92)
1994 Slamdek Records