Pitchfork

Rock songs about being destitute are as old as the form itself, and songs for seduction are just as familiar. Songs that lure the listener into a down-and-out lifestyle, however, are a very special breed. King Khan, fresh from his silly and successful garage-rock collaboration with Mark Sultan just months ago ( The King Khan & BBQ Show), digs even deeper with his Shrines, creating crackling Sunday afternoon AM soul. Some carefree falsetto starts "Welfare Bread", leading each verse before King Khan finally chimes in and takes us to the chorus: "You don't have to pay your bills anymore/ You just have to eat my welfare bread". It's a supposed plea for simpler pleasures, but even if King Khan is goofing on convention, it's too note-perfect a parody for anyone to care. From its endearingly in-the-red production to its coy saxophones, Hammond organ, guileless guitars and a particularly gorgeous bridge, "Welfare Bread" moves beyond mere recreation into a full-on time warp.

[From What Is?!; out now on Hazelwood]