Kingpin Wrecking Crew’s upcoming gig schedule: CD-release show at the Big Easy, Portland, June 30 (hence this here article); play Club Swords, in Milford, Connecticut (makes sense); the Mustard Seed Cafe, in West Jefferson, Ohio (sounds a little hippy dippy); the Calvary Chapel (cool name for a club, no?) in Philly; the Christian Life Center (that might be overdoing things with the irony, don’t you think?), in Bensalem, Pennsylvania; the Soulfest for a couple nights in New Hampshire (probably a fair amount of James Brown knockoffs there, no doubt); and then, finally, Tuesday Circle of Grace, back in Bensalem (really, what are the odds? Three ironically named clubs in one week, all of them riffing on the religious right’s stereotype as a bunch of boring thumbsuckers who wouldn’t know good music if it bit them in their holy asses? Two of those clubs are even in the same town! Hey, wait a second . . .)
That’s right, Kingpin are a Christian band. I forgot. It’s easy to do when you listen to their music on a regular basis and don’t pay much attention to the words. But Kingpin, who recently shared a stage with Lost on Liftoff, Pete Kilpatrick, Paranoid Social Club, and As Fast As, are set to release their sophomore album and label (appropriately named Chosen Records) debut, Abolition Strategy, so it’s worth writing about how they are and are not just like all the other bands in town.
Just like most bands in town because: they’d like to make a living doing this making-music thing, are capable of writing some killer songs (along with some cheesy ones), got a fair amount of influence from Rustic Overtones, and can have a good-old time releasing a record at the Big Easy.
Not like many other bands in town because: an imaginary survey shows a solid eight out of 10 ministers (or priests or reverends or whatever you call the brand of top dawg that does most of the talking in Kingpin’s brand of Christianity) recommend them, they’re opening for Stryper this summer (oh, that kind of Soulfest!), they’ve got a label investing in their music, and there are some radio stations who won’t play them because they do have a release show that’s likely to be well attended at the Big Easy.
There’s something about all of that I find entertaining and intriguing. What’s it like to be the rebel at a revival meeting? Playing future rock for people pretty focused on the past (like, say, 2006 years ago)? It’s enough to make you think about what it is that you do and don’t know about Christian rock, and luckily Kingpin Wrecking Crew deliver plenty of thoughtful music.
Part of that comes with their figurative and literal investment in studio technology, drummer Darren Elder partnering with Chosen Records honcho Dennis Kubach to found the Halo, a studio currently located at Hawkes Plaza in Westbrook with Jon Wyman behind the boards. It shows up in the quality of the recording and production (Adam Ayan over at Gateway did the mastering, too), and it shows up in the very foundations and lyrics of the songs themselves, like the first single, “The Reel to Real.”
