Album Review: Four Stroke Baron – Monoqueen (Prosthetic Records)

Heavy pop band, Four Stroke Baron’s album, Monoqueen features no less than six cover songs. The band having put their own spin on notable numbers from the likes of The Beatles, CHVRCHES and Death Grips. Monoqueen will also feature five re-recordings from their debut self-released album, King Radio. It will be released on September 25th 2020 via Prosthetic Records.

Being unaware of just who Four Stroke Baron are and having no idea what they sound like, it’s the latter part of the album that has my interest peaked. The re-recordings from the band’s debut album, King Radio. For listeners like me, it’s like having an 5-track EP to help introduce us to the band.

Gone (King Radio Pt. 1) a light and mournful intro melody setting up the groovy ass-shaker and dancefloor filler that is Vacant Planet. If you want a good example of the weird rock and pop stylings that embody this band, you won’t find much better to show it off then this track.

A lot of the oddness is driven by the vocals which have power and poise but have this unusual echo throughout. It can be quite distracting and overpowering which is shame as Lowly Argonaut has some kick-ass riffs and Sleep Around brings a fair bit of heaviness to the forefront.

It does end strongly though as A Sound of Thunder has a ton of groove and even the vocals can’t take away from that enjoyment.

Which brings us to a bunch of songs that I don’t have a lot of love for before hearing Four Stroke Baron’s efforts. However, there’s some good stuff to be found here. Their cover of Red Rider’s Lunatic Fringe is nice and chuggy, Lungs by CHVRCHES is a super-meaty effort and Mean Mr. Mustard as done by The Beatles fits the weirdness that Four Strike Baron embody.

It’s the sort of stuff that long-term fans will certainly eat up.

Four Strike Baron – Monoqueen Full Track Listing:

1. Lunatic Fringe (Red Rider cover)
2. Lungs (CHVRCHES cover)
3. Burning Skies (Tones on Tail cover)
4. Mean Mr. Mustard (The Beatles cover)
5. Why a Bitch Gotta Lie (Death Grips cover)
6. Broken Whiskey Glass (Post Malone cover)
7. Gone (King Radio Pt. 1)
8. Vacant Planet
9. Lowly Argonaut
10. Sleep Flood
11. A Sound of Thunder

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