Perhaps it's too soon to call himself a king, as of yet.

Out next week on seminal Seattle label Sub Pop is the sophomore, self-titled LP from schizoid garage rock prodigy King Tuff . A maddening bluster of pawnshop guitars, smutty grunge and superlative falsettos and screeches, King Tuff is a rough tumble of a record and Alone and Stoned serves as its immediate highlight. A potent whirr of nicely phased guitars serve as the undercurrent for Tuff's petulant lyrics of "All of my friends are all alone and stoned; all of my friends are on their headphones" like a grounded teen with an empty grinder. Dumbfounding. [...]

King Tuff is the new record from King Tuff - his first for Sub Pop and his second album overall. "Was Dead", King Tuff's 2008 debut, captured the attention of the rock underground and quickly blew through its limited pressing (it now resides on ebay, being snatched up for hearty sums). His gem of a new album was produced by Bobby Harlow, of The Go and Conspiracy of Owls, and recorded during a furious two-week run in Detroit. Stream "King Tuff", out on subpop on May 29th, 2012, in full below. Read more »

howdy, top of the sunday evening! if there was a record i was looking forward to blasting through the baton rouge streets it's king tuff's latest self titled subpop release - due out on 5.29. sadly, i dont listen to em enough but when i throw em on, i know i am going to go on a major kick. if you like the 13th floor elevators, stones, howlin wolf, etc you should absolutely dig king tuff. i have not heard the entire thing, cause even though im 7 years into this i still cant get on the subpop [...]

Last year I rediscovered the 2008 King Tuff album Was Dead and it became my favorite album of the year, listening to it everyday for a four-month stretch. Also a member of the bands Witch, Feathers and Happy Birthday, Vermont-native Kyle Thomas continues to deliver quality material with the highly anticipated release of his upcoming self-titled album , out on May 29th via Sub Pop Records. I had the pleasure of chatting with Kyle Thomas about moving to Los Angeles, living in a cave and the proliferation of donut shops around the city. [...]
King Tuff is the new record from King Tuff—his first for Sub Pop and his second album overall. Was Dead, King Tuff's 2008 debut, captured the attention of the rock underground and quickly blew through its limited pressing (it now resides on ebay, being snatched up for hearty sums). His gem of a new album was produced by Bobby Harlow, of The Go and Conspiracy of Owls, and recorded during a
Pictured above, that's Seth "Hunx" Bogart embracing his buddy Kyle "King Tuff" Thomas and Walkmen guitarist Paul Maroon hanging out with his family. They look happy. We are too. Because in just a few weeks, on May 29th, the two bands will release Everybody Taste's two most highly anticipated records of the year: King Tuff's eponymous follow-up to his cult classic debut—the devilishly fun Was Dead— and The Walkmen's attempt to extend their perfect album streak to three with Heaven . Both bands recently dished out extra tasty and promising morsels from their records: Kyle Thomas with the [...]

Is King Tuff an offshoot of Happy Birthday, or is it the other way around? In 2010, Kyle Thomas, aka, King Tuff teamed up with Ruth Garbus and Chris Weisma and released an album under the name Happy Birthday name for Sub Pop. It was a gem of a power pop album with abundant hooks and abundant quirks. Two years later, he's got a King Tuff album on the way for the same label, and if the first two tracks released from this effort are any indication, he has another gem of a power pop album on his hands. "Keep on [...]
Every day, Daily Downloads offers 10 free and legal mp3 downloads, plus free and legal live sets from around the internet. Today's free and legal mp3 downloads: The Brooklyn What : free and legal South Brooklyn Singles EP [mp3] search for more Brooklyn What posts at Largehearted Boy Easter Island : "Frightened" [mp3] from Frightened (out July 3rd) [...]

El mixtape de hoy demoró un poco más de lo anunciado. Estábamos esperando recibir el permiso de un par de canciones que gustaron en los podcasts del mes . Ustedes dispensarán. Pero entremos en materia. Abrimos con el primer corte del Cobalt , debút de the Owsley Bros. , uno de nuestros álbumes favoritos del año. Seguimos con Diamond Rugs , la "superbanda" conformada por John McCauley (Deer Tick), Robbie Crowell (también de Deer Tick), Ian Saint Pé (Black Lips), Steve Berlin (Los Lobos), Hardy Morris (Dead Confederate) y Bryan Dufresne (Six [...]
Vermont's King Tuff releases a foot-stomping and hand-clapping new single with a bassline that should get the young kids shaking their hips. I thought the previous track to drop from this forthcoming, self-titled album was fun , but this put a smile on my face on first listen. Get up and move!

On May 29th, Sub Pop will release the King Tuff's sophomore self-titled album. We previously featured the single, "Bad Thing", for download, but now you can hear another new track. Listen to King Tuff's "Keep On Movin'" below. Read more »

Punk pop from King Tuff ? Er, yeah! It is taken from King Tuff, the new record from, er, King Tuff, his first for Sub Pop and his second album overall. Did I say his name is King Tuff?
Found a very nice King Tuff live set on the "Little More than a Big Crashing Beat"blog, go check it out. I've seen King Tuff a handful of times now and rate him pretty highly as a songwriter, he just hasn't yet received the kind of exposure enjoyed by the likes of Ty Segall and Mikal Cronin of late. I think that this is likely to change soon as a result of his hook up with Sub-Pop records who

Dedicated to Dwight and Suzanna, who will be married this weekend! (artist - song - album + purchase link :: extra info) Islands - Hallways - A Sleep & a Forgetting Zeus - Are You Gonna' Waste My Time? - Busting Visions Laura Gibson - The Fire - La Grande Retribution Gospel Choir - The Stone (Revolution!) - The Revolution EP Best Coast - [...]

Six more artists and seven tunes to brighten up your Sunday. From the garage reverb of King Tuff to the mournful acoustics of Sun Kil Moon to the punk clatter of Pangea and the rootsy rock of These United States . Courtesy of Aquarium Drunkard we have two covers by Wooden Wand as he takes on punk rockers Born Against and the quirky pop of Jonathan Richman (more information here ), and finally the excellent earnest and pensive folk of Old Bricks as they [...]
King Tuff – Wild Desire 7" Yet another triumphant piece of the King Tuff 2012 domination, this single for the Suicide Squeeze singles series picks up two non-album tracks that precede his excellent eponymous album scheduled for May. The title track is as buoyant as we've ever heard him, with the gum ball crunch of guitars, a hook large enough to bag a humpback whale and plenty of trademark King Tuff Technicolor pop accoutrements. The b-side cools things slightly with a mid-tempo strummer that plays it swift and breezy. One of [...]

Here's what I remember about the first time I visited San Francisco: I saw Alcatraz, I paid an all-silver man to robot walk while playing a kazoo, and I was giddy when I learned that George Lucas lived nearby. I was 10. In the recent past, as I've talked about in this column before , I've pored over Bay Area garage. For the past two years, artists like Ty Segall, the Fresh & Onlys, and Thee Oh Sees have occupied a good chunk of my listening rotation. So while, yes, I headed to Haight Ashbury [...]
Vermont singer-songwriter Kyle Thomas specializes is bright, brash, and summery rock 'n' roll with a strong garage vibe. I first ran into the guy when made his Sub Pop Records debut with his band Happy Birthday . I wasn't in love with the album, but what great moments there were on that album were great . Too great to simply brush Thomas under the rug Sub Pop is continuing to support this guy by putting out his latest solo record under the name King Tuff. The guy has been putting out material under this name for [...]