Before the King Release ‘Cold Shoulder’
I first heard Before the King when they released their debut single ‘Low Expectations’ way back in 2020. I ended up having a lovely conversation with vocalist Dean Smusko on The Musos Show, a radio show I host. They continued to release singles such as ‘Argentina’ and ‘Fast Machine’ but eventually, they did fall off my radar a little bit. That was until one fateful April night…..
You see, my friend (and friend of BGOL) Oscar Joe was moving to the UK and to celebrate, he threw one final shindig at his place in Sydney. As with all good parties, we ended up around a table playing beer pong (although, I think we ponged everything but beer that night).
It was the second game of the night and I was teamed up with someone I’d never met, a guy named Dan. As neither Dan nor I were drinking that night, our beverage of choice was naturally kombucha (we’ve all played kombucha pong, right?). To cut a long story short, we lost to the team that was drinking seltzer (we’ve all played seltzer pong, right?).
With our recent loss (and healthier guts from the kombucha), Dan and I started chatting. Turns out we both love Aunty Donna, we both have a fondness for pasta, and we are both musicians. We talked about the music we were working on and the studios we had been to. Turns out his band was about to release an EP, exciting stuff.
After about 20 minutes of music chit-chat, I asked what band he was in. Fully expecting some band I’d never heard of like The Anarchist Anti-Christs or Dogs With Jobs (I just assume those are real bands, didn’t even check), I was preparing for my standard response of “oh cool, can’t wait to check you guys out”. But unexpectedly, Dan replied, “we’re called Before the King”. I was immediately like “oh shit, I know you guys”. I don’t know who was more surprised, me when I found out Dan was in Before the King or Dan when he found out I’d actually listened to his band before (and even interviewed their singer).
The Friday following that party, Before the King released their debut EP ‘Different Combinations of the Same’ which is incredible, give it a listen. Not even two months after that EP dropped, they have released a new single, ‘Cold Shoulder’.
‘Cold Shoulder’ is somewhat of a relationship-ending song. On the tune, Dean says “‘Cold Shoulder’ was the last song I wrote about one of my ex-girlfriends. The relationship was traumatic, and often toxic - releasing this song is like a full-stop for that chapter of my life”.
Much like their previous work ‘Cold Shoulder’ is quite reminiscent of the garage rock revival of the early 2000s. They are particularly similar to bands such as The Strokes and Arctic Monkeys. Perhaps Before the King will be the leaders of the 2020s garage rock revival revival. Who knows.
On top of this new single, Before the King have announced a new EP ‘All That You Know’, due for release Friday, August 5, as well as a launch for that EP at the Lansdowne Hotel in Sydney on Saturday, August 27 (featuring Lariska and Allerdyce on support). Tickets available here.