The Duke and the King, not to be confused with The Duchess and the Duke (who released a very good album two months ago) are the side project of Simone Felice, from The Felice Brothers. Simone is The Felice Brothers’ drummer, who sings lead on a few tracks, and has a soulful tenor that pales in comparison to his brother’s gritty, Bob Dylan-esque croon. The Felice Brothers are more suited to that style, so when Simone sings lead, it often sounds a bit less inspired. On this project, he really steps up though, in my opinion. I think this is because he has more lively music backing him, and shares vocal duties with his band members. Check out “Still Remember Love” for some great vocal harmonies. This is still very much grounded in the folk aesthetic, but it actually sounds nothing like The Felice Brothers. Whereas The Felice Brothers sound like they’re coming right out of the small Catskill Mountain town where they formed, The Duke and the King are a bit closer to your local coffee shops. It still has that folk feel to the music, in the lyrics, instrumentation, and general attitude and presentation. Compared to Simone’s day job, I think this is a bit more accessible, even to folks who may not gravitate towards rural sounding music. On their myspace they describe themselves as a glam-soul-folk quartet. Indeed, elements of soul can be heard, mainly in the vocals, but I have no idea where the glam comes from.
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