King Mob performs on September 13 at Moe's

Anyone who saw experimental pop band Lil Slugger probably wouldn't have guessed that Ben Martin was a talented R&B singer. Slugger, after all, sometimes sounded like a mash-up of Captain Beefheart, Chrome and the Fall. For King Mob (due at Moe's on Tuesday, September 13), Martin teamed up with his...

By Tom Murphy

September 7, 2011

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Anyone who saw experimental pop band Lil Slugger probably wouldn't have guessed that Ben Martin was a talented R&B singer. Slugger, after all, sometimes sounded like a mash-up of Captain Beefheart, Chrome and the Fall. For King Mob (due at Moe's on Tuesday, September 13), Martin teamed up with his brother Sam, of Flashlights, for an electronic pop duo that sounds like it's writing songs for a Michael Mann movie about the dark side of the dance-club scene in a cosmopolitan Southern city. Fans of post-Dare! Human League and the sultry, dusky sounds of early chillwave will appreciate what King Mob has done. While the recorded output of the band is worthy of repeated listens, it's in the live setting where Ben Martin and his strong, versatile vocals shine. This is futuristic disco music wrapped in retro aesthetics.

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Tom Murphy is a writer, visual artist and musician from Aurora, Colorado. He was a prolific music writer for Westword and a documenter of the Denver music scene.

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Twitter: @simianthinker