Biography
King Cobb Steelie formed as an anti-commercialism, community-minded collective of musicians whose alternative rock blends sampling, scratching, world music instruments and studio sorcery into seamless eclecticism. Rather than grafting outside influences onto Western rock foundations, the group builds organic, holistic pieces that open space for rich improvisational digressions in live settings. Their debut album, S/T (1993, Raw Energy Records/A&M), incorporated scratching and samples while presenting KCS as a punk band defined by knee-deep grooves and a superfreak Fugazi sensibility. The follow-up, Project Twinkle (1994, Lunamoth), moved into spacier, bassier dub-jazz territory, revealing Bill Laswell’s musical influence on the band—Laswell also produced the record—and prioritizing instrumental and electronic sounds over vocals and jangly guitars. Junior Relaxor (1997, EMI Canada) pushed electronic experimentation further, testing new beats while drawing on Martina Topley-Bird (Tricky’s singing partner) influenced vocals and trip-hop stylings that signaled another evolutionary stage, retaining the edge of the group’s live shows within a low-key groove. Expert in the interplay of dub, trip-hop, punk, rock and funk, King Cobb Steelie ranks among the few ensembles able to merge these elements with simple grace. Mayday followed in early 2001.