"A lot of people have a problem with rock & roll. They’re always attaching some sort of baggage to it. I’m here to say it’s just music. It’s here for you and me, so enjoy it. Stop trying to fucking dissect it - just let it be good to you."
- Doug Pinnick
Doug Pinnick is probably best known as one third of King’s X, the Houston-based trio that made their mark in the music world by being the first band on their block to play "progressive soul." With their lush, three-part Beatles-like vocal harmonies, blues-based crunch riffs and ear-grabbing hooks, it’s no exaggeration to say that the critically-acclaimed King’s X have recorded some of the greatest rock albums of the past ten years: Gretchen Goes To Nebraska, Dogman, Ear Candy - take your pick.
Now, twenty years after the formation of King’s X, Pinnick has released his first solo album, Massive Grooves From The Electric Church of Psychofunkadelic Grungelism Rock Music, a powerfully moving album possibly best described as Pinnick’s diary set to a soundtrack of sledgehammer guitars, psychedelic grooves and stirring, soulful melodies. Pouring his restless artistic spirit into the album’s fourteen tracks, Pinnick confronts both his fears and frustrations, resulting in a stunning but sobering album about loss, alienation, regret, and ultimately, resolution.
"After all these years of being in King’s X, I had a lot of things that I needed to get out of my system," says Pinnick. "That’s why it was so important for me to do an album for myself and put some things out that I couldn’t do within the band. Musically, it doesn’t really differ all that much from a King’s X record, ‘cause I wrote these songs the way I always write. The only difference was that this time there was no compromising. Thematically, I wanted the album to be like an old time church sermon, the kind I’d hear on the radio as a kid. And when I say church, I’m not talking about religion. I’m starting my own church, a place where people are free to be who they are without anyone else telling them how to live their lives. It’s about truth and acceptance and I want to be the one to take you there."
In other words, welcome to the Electric Church.
Massive Grooves... opens with "Rev," a twenty-one second introduction to the album’s "service." Pinnick explains the concept: "As a kid, I came from a real religious family and we went to church three or four times a week. There was always someone who got up and made an announcement, welcoming everyone to the church, and then explaining what was going to go on that night. That’s what I’m doing with "Rev," only I put a real weird Parliament Funk/Jimi Hendrix vibe to it."
The pr ogram begins with the muscular rhythm of "Jangle," a song Pinnick describes as saying "Come on in and have a good time. It’s about letting go and having fun." The amped-up riffage of "Shake" picks up the pace, followed by the steaming grind of "Music," a song Pinnick says is the cornerstone of King’s X. "This is what I always wanted King’s X to sound like: raw, in your face and de- tuned."
Massive Grooves... poignant, melodic and sometimes dark soundscape serves as a backdrop to the span of emotions in Pinnick’s lyrics. In the sprawling, bittersweet "Love," he searches for hope amid a struggle to deal with loss. "I never knew my father," he says openly, "and I always had this thing about someone older and wiser being there to guide me through life. Since I never had that, I made up this imaginary friend that I write about from time to time. If you listen to the older King’s X albums, you’ll hear me say things about "the old man," and that’s who I’m talking about. In this song, I’m asking him to help me out by explaining the whole concept of love. I had never fallen in love before, I just had an idea of what I thought it would be like. When it finally happened and turned out to be a big mess, it left me confused and hoping for some answers."
"Friends" gives stark insight to the people in Pinnick’s personal life: Kevin, the "razorhead" who cuts himself to numb his pain, Chris, the young man who’s "gonna die in jail," and Kenny, who as a boy, witnessed his father murder his mother. "These are all real people," says Pinnick. "We all know someone like this, victims of circumstance that should be encouraged to heal and better themselves rather than be looked down upon. After I wrote this song, Kevin, the first kid, killed himself. It was so tragic. This was a good-looking, talented kid that could have been a movie star or a model or anything else he wanted to be, but he was lost. And now he’s gone." He pauses for a moment. "These are all things that I need to talk about. I put them to music and try and share it with as many people as I can." "Darker" tackles Pinnick’s growing disaffection for the beliefs he was raised on. "This song is about how I walked away from religion and everything that I thought was supposed to be the truth," he confesses. "I’m just making an announcement here that my world has gotten darker, so don’t come near me talking about any spiritual-Christian stuff ‘cause I don’t want to hear it. If Christianity makes you happy, if you think you’re gonna go to some great place when you die, then fine, live your life that way. I choose not to. I now choose to live my life on my terms, not anybody else’s. Because our lyrics were always spiritual, King’s X was always perceived as being a Christian band and we never were."
"Soul" is the most personal of the bunch, an autobiographical song where Pinnick describes himself as "the man who built his house up on a hill and keeps his doors locked." "Eventually," he laughs, "The song says "We’re gonna buy ourselves a mountain and we’re gonna find our way back home, which basically means, ‘I’m gonna figure this all out like I always have.’ By the end of the album, there’s a resolve. Everything’s gonna be all right. It’s all about communicating; the Electric Church is a bunch of people getting together and talking about life and trying to help each other and make sense of it all. That’s what this is all about."
Guest players on Massive Grooves... include Pinnick’s King’s X bandmate, drummer Jerry Gaskill, Ugly Kid Joe drummer Shannon Larkin and drummer Chad Lyons. In addition to producing the album at his Houston studio, Pinnick himself handled all the guitars, bass, vocals and "every other noise you hear on the album." "I didn’t want the album to sound like one guy playing everything - even though that’s pretty much what Pound Hound is," laughs Pinnick, "So I ‘became’ different people at every instrument. For example, when I recorded the bass, I approached it as if I were just "the bassist from Poundhound" - same thing with the guitar and vocals. It was almost like role-playing and definitely made the whole thing a lot of fun."
Pinnick brings out the emotional life beneath the album’s melodies with a whiskey-tinged rasp that echoes the soulful voices he grew up listening to. Raised on a steady diet of gospel music and groups like The Platters, the Mississippi-born Pinnick’s been singing since he was five years old. "I sang until someone told me to shut up," he laughs. "Music has always been my life. "I was always listening to it or watching it or doing it - that’s all I’ve ever known."
As the years went on, he discovered artists like Hendrix and Sly Stone, and went from singing in church choirs to playing in dozens of rock bands. He hooked up with guitarist Ty Tabor and drummer Gaskill in the summer of 1980 and they spent the next five years doing covers of U2 and the Police before relocating to Houston, Texas. They eventually got signed to Megaforce/Atlantic and went on to release six brilliant albums (Out Of The Silent Planet, Gretchen Goes To Nebraska, Faith Hope Love, King’s X, Dogman and Ear Candy).
King’s X are currently in the studio working on their Metal Blade debut, due out sometime later this year.
Until then, enjoy Massive Grooves From The Electric Church of Psychofunkadelic Grungelism Rock Music, an album that’s been both Pinnick’s salvation and his saving grace. "After making this record, I have a renewed passion for music," he says. "I’m like a kid in a candy store: I want to make as much music as I can and share it with as many people as I can. This is only the beginning."
Somebody say Amen.
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