King Falcon “Ready Set Go” (SINGLE/VIDEO)

It starts with more cadence than I’m used to in a rock single, but before long, the track starts to rumble like nobody’s business. This song is lean and mean and yet it feels like it’s got the size to smash anything that gets in its path. Under the command of King Falcon, it’s too controlled to do any damage that the band doesn’t intend to inflict themselves. This single is “Ready Set Go,” and through the dynamic play that we’re presented with here, it has the potential to leave you more than a little curious about the band that has been called one of the more intriguing to come out of their scene this summer.

The guitar in “Ready Set Go,” much like its counterpart in the bass, is as organic as it gets, and adheres to the tuneful warmth that one would expect to find in the live performance shown to us in the video for the track. I was reviewing a handful of punky rock songs this past spring, but there’s something wholly different about the decadent discord that exists in the harmonies of this single. There’s no other band that I can compare this group to right now, and it’s mostly because of the way that they make distortion sound so unbelievably crisp and clear.

This master mix is beefy and superphysical, but it isn’t even close to being overproduced in the slightest. I get the sense that King Falcon wanted to go out of their way to keep this as authentic and non-augmented as possible, and in both the video and the single itself, they manage to do exactly that without being too self-righteous about it. The only fat listeners can expect to find in this song is within the bass and guitar wallop, not in the construction of the hook, nor the visuals in the video.

As far as the music video is concerned, it’s efficient, startlingly emotional in a couple of the fever pitch moments in the song, and very surreal – particularly in its first minute. It’s as if everything slows down to half-speed before we reach the climactic juncture of the track, and we swing between the players, witnessing their passion in no short order. Some viewers might find it to be a bit poppier than its source material is, but for what I look for in a rock video, it’s everything absent from corporate-led alternative music for a long time now.

King Falcon is getting a lot of hype at the moment, and if you’re curious what all of the fuss has been about, you need to see the video for “Ready Set Go.” The band pulls no punches and leaves nothing to be desired in this release, and even if this is your first rodeo with their monstrous rhythm, you’ll probably enjoy the carnage as much as a longtime supporter would. This is rock n’ roll the way that it was always meant to be heard, and no one should be surprised that it’s being delivered by a true group of indie stalwarts.

Mark Druery