Taylor Kingman’s frequent performances at venues like the Laurelthirst have garnered him a strong local following, made all the more powerful when he’s backed by his band, the Holy Know-Nothings. The group’s debut LP, Arguably OK, possesses a gruff kind of poise, thanks to Kingman’s smart, relentlessly honest songwriting.
Heavy-lidded country burners like the fuzzy “Emmanuel” stay true to Kingman’s self-described “psychedelic doom boogie.” A crafty metaphor equates a busted car’s chemical dependencies to those of a functioning alcoholic, with a twisted chorus of “I need my chemicals to keep this vehicle on the road.” The rollicking “Hard Times” explodes into existence with a wall of guitars squealing and rumbling in a psych-forward maelstrom, while Kingman shifts between the roles of weathered crooner and antagonized rocker.