Artist description 2-piece stripped-down songwriter's punk rock.

Music Style punk rock

Musical Influences elvis costello, fugazi, mule, husker du, social distortion

Similar Artists uh....elvis costello, fugazi, mule, husker du, social distortion

Artist History Dave and I have been playing together since 1991. Prior to the Douglass Kings, we were in the heavy post-punk guitar band, Alkaloid. The Douglass Kings have 2 releases now with a third album due out at the end of the summer.

Group Members Lee Diamond - Drums and vocals Dave Weaver - Guitar and vocals

Instruments Drums, Vocals and Guitar

Albums Smokes (1999) and Inc. (2001) with Wheels (2002) up next

Press Reviews Chief Guitar Officer Dave Weaver and Chief Drum Officer Lee Diamond opens Douglass Kings' Inc, in the form of the terminally catchy" I Sure can Pick 'Em". Plenty of throaty vocals and raucous energy, not to mention a pervasive sense of humor, are on offer throughout the band's ambitions EP. Illinois Entertainer This is what it's all about. Telling total strangers about thunderously great bands they might not get the chance to hear. Douglass Kings are a mighty two piece band out of Chi-town that have been around for about 5 years as the remnants of the heavy guitar/pop outfit Alkaloid. The parts were apparently greater than the whole in this case as Douglass Kings somehow gets it all done with apparently JUST guitar, drums and the dual vocals of Lee Diamond (the drummer) & Dave Weaver (the guitars). You'd never know it and though. The first nine tracks are studio works whose beauty I did not appreciate until I heard the next nine, which were live. Amazingly, all the blazing aggression comes through in both live and studio versions as well as the wonderfully melodic aspects of their song craft. It's as good as Husker Du during their Flip your Wig/ Candy Apple Grey era or Fugazi when they're at their most emotive live thresholds. Douglass Kings doesn't just rock the hell out of you it moves you. Cageliner Douglass Kings will floor you, too, but with a rough-edged attack from just guitar, drums, and gruff vocals. Gritty, this album is thick and dirty like used oil, and about as slick as sandpaper, and I likes it that way, see? However, their packaging, by Crosshair, is quite stylish. Copper Press I have no Idea who to compare the Douglass Kings to. I simply don't listen to enough rock to know. So maybe they are influenced by some really awesome band, but I simply don't know who that would be. What I do know is that this shit rocks fucking hard! Extremely catchy and powerful rockin' punk. Great song writing, awesome singing, and totally memorable grooves. I simply can't stop shaking the rump while listening to this. But be warned this isn't what most people would call hardcore, so don't be expecting something along those lines. The Douglass Kings are just a great underground rock band. Pure, simple, raw and very good at what they do. The CD includes studio tracks and a live set as well. Heartattack These guys have a pretty interesting thing going on with their lineup. They have a drummer and guitar player, and they share vocal duties. Remember that band Local H? Douglass Kings has a similar idea going with their lineup. The Douglass Kings influences range from Fugazi to Hot Water Music to Elvis Costello and Husker Du. You can hear how well they mix it throughout "Inc." also. Corn Zine Smokes - This is the first full length by this Chicago duo. How 2 guys can put out this much sound is absolutely amazing. These guys have spent a fair bit of time listening to Jawbox, Mule, Tar, Husker Du, Fugazi and even some English pre-new wave stuff like the Jam and Elvis Costello. Not enough words to describe how awesome of a debut this is. Get it now. Inc. - Excellent! Hybrid of Husker Du and Elvis Costello mixed with some of the sort of things that DC labels like Dischord were putting out in the mid to late 80s. Some strong melodies, very aggressive vocals, great musicians, and the total package. Must have!!!! Road kill This is the sort of band that is a reviewer's nightmare, because it defies even a satisfactory ballpark comparison to anything else. And even the suggested comparisons made in the band's biographical literature - Fugazi and Hot Water Music - do not really strike me as wholly accurate. Rather than making comparisons to other similar-sounding bands, I would be more tempted to describe this band simply as heavy rock with an edge. This band knows how to write an extremely memorable song - something that is apparent right off the bat, with opener "I Sure Can Pick 'Em." Much of the band's music is melodic and catchy, but with an unusual, sharp bounce, slightly fuzzy guitars that have that pushy power pop peppiness, and swagger drunk yelling vocals that still manage to nail those primo chorus hooks, as heard on the aforementioned "I Sure Can Pick 'Em" and the dynamic "Stoopid," among others. With nine studio cuts and nine live tracks, there is good value for your money, and more than a few laughs to be had as the band's odd sense of humor infiltrates your brain. Ball buster

Additional Info WE WANT TO PLAY YOUR TOWN! Write lee.diamond@mindspring.com

Location Chicago, IL - USA

Copyright notice. All material on MP3.com is protected by copyright law and by international treaties. You may download this material and make reasonable number of copies of this material only for your own personal use. You may not otherwise reproduce, distribute, publicly perform, publicly display, or create derivative works of this material, unless authorized by the appropriate copyright owner(s).