The Good Ones
'Kingdom of Doom' is the rather bemusing second single to be taken from The Good, The Bad & The Queen's debut album. After my first play I was left scratching my head and murmuring words to the effect of "so this is what passes for a single nowadays?"; by the third play I was beginning to warm to this delicately crafted beauty and by the fifth I was starting to get drawn in even further. It may not display the cartoon-ish bounce of a Gorillaz banger or the killer hooks from Blur's finest 45's but that's not to say it's without merit – although you could question its suitability as a single. Scratchy acoustic guitars float on top of laconic beats while Damon sings in that world weary tone he perfected circa '13'. To sum up then – not as good as the sky-scraping majesty of 'Herculean' but a damn sight better than most of the garbage currently clogging up the Top 40. You'd expect a little more from Albarn, Simonon, Tong and Allen but maybe the best is yet to come.