If you take a look at the ARIA Albums Chart this week, you’ll find a heartwarming anomaly among the Top 10 rankings – a high-charting local release, and a high-charting local release from an honest-to-goodness rock band, at that.
Microscopic Wars, the much-anticipated full-length debut album from Melbourne’s Kingswood released last Friday 22nd August, has stormed its way into #6 on the ARIA Charts in a week filled with strong competition both locally and abroad. An achievement whose significance is not lost on the band themselves.
“It was absolutely amazing to have charted so well on [our] debut,” Kingswood bassist ‘Mango’ Hunter tells Tone Deaf of their Top 10 position. “To be honest, I don’t think any of us were really thinking about how Microscopic Wars would chart. It was just a relief to finally get the album out there and to see what people thought.”
Obviously, fans thought highly of Kingswood’s 13-track LP, with it disappearing off the shelves of music retailers, as Hunter recounts. “It was amazing to hear stories from friends and fans that they went to their local record stores and that they had sold out all copies,” he says.
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Kingswood weren’t the highest charting Aussies this week (Hilltop Hoods’ latest, Walking Under Stars at #2, takes that honour), but theirs was the top-charting local debut against a series of high-profile international debut albums, such as NZ duo Broods (at #5 with Evergreen), UK’s Royal Bloods and their self-titled LP (at #3), and most obviously, US pop starlet Ariana Grande, at the top of the Albums Chart.
“Congratulations to Ariana Grande on taking out the top spot. I guess she wanted it, so she took it,” Hunter modestly notes of the 21-year-old’s sales, but Kingswood’s feat shouldn’t be under-celebrated.
With the exception of The Amity Affliction’s second consecutive ARIA #1 debut (for Let The Ocean Take Me – back in June), Microscopic Wars has one of the best opening week sales performances of any Aussie rock band – debut album or otherwise this year, especially when you take into account ARIA’s best selling albums and singles of 2014 so far – the Top 100 listings rife with pop, electronic, and nostalgic acts.
If the sales of their debut album are any indication, people are flocking to Kingswood’s aim at spearheading a local revolution for burly riffs, bluesy vocals, and heavy-hammering yet inventive songcraft – the way you remember bands of the 90s rock glory days having – making them the latest heirs apparent of the country’s enduring rock legacy.
“There has been a big swing back towards rock in the last 9 months locally, following the success of Violent Soho’s Hungry Ghost and international rock releases by QOTSA, Arctic Monkeys, Band of Skulls,” Mango reflects on Kingswood’s appeal; “Not just on the charts but if you look at recent festival lineups in Australia, there has been a shift away from DJs and local hip hop acts towards rock and alternative independent bands.”
That includes Kingswood’s own appearance on the bills for Splendour In The Grass, at Port Hetland’s North West Festival in WA, and upcoming slot at the inaugural Originals Music Festival in Queensland.
The sales of Microscopic Wars have no doubt been bolstered by the hard-touring quartet’s current national run of headline shows. Having rocked venues in Adelaide, Perth, dual shows in Sydney and a sold out hometown show at Melbourne’s Howler, Kingswood’s mammoth trek continues over the next two months – complete with fellow hard rock contemporaries, The Sinking Teeth and Luca Brasi.
“It has been amazing how well the album has been received so far and all of the amazing support we have got from our fans,” Mango adds. “It will be interesting to see if we can hold onto a spot in the top 10 this week given the volume of quality releases over the last few weeks.”
Kingswood Australian Tour 2014
with special guests The Sinking Teeth and Luca Brasi
Wed 3 Sept, Kooroora Hotel, Mt Buller, VIC*
Tickets: oztix.com.au
Thu 4 Sept, Swindlers Bar, Mt Hotham, VIC*
Tickets: oztix.com.au
Fri 5 Sept, The Union Club Hotell, Wagga Wagga, NSW
Tickets: oztix.com.au
Sat 6 Sept, The Armidale Club, Armidale, NSW
Tickets: oztix.com.au
Fri 12 Sept, Ric’s Big Backyard Ric’s Bar, Brisbane, QLD**
Tickets: oztix.com.au
Sat 13 Sept, Originals Music Festival, Noosa, QLD*
Tickets: originalsmusicfestival.com
Wed 17 Sept, Hoey Moey, Coffs Harbour, NSW
Tickets: hoeymoey.com.au
Thu 18 Sept, Cambridge Hotel, Newcastle, NSW
Tickets: oztix.com.au
Fri 19 Sept, Waves, Wollongong, NSW
Tickets: moshtix.com.au
Sat 20 Sept, Collector Hotel, Parramatta, NSW
Tickets: oztix.com.au
Thu 25 Sept, ANU Bar, Canberra, ACT
Tickets: premier.ticketek.com.au
Fri 26 Sept, Area Hotel, Griffith, NSW
Tickets: oztix.com.au
Fri 17 Oct, The Karova Lounge, Ballarat, VIC
Tickets: oztix.com.au
Sat 18 Oct, Torquay Hotel, Torquay, VIC
Tickets: oztix.com.au
Thu 23 Oct, The Loft, Warrnambool, VIC
Tickets: oztix.com.au
Fri 24 Oct, Unibar, Adelaide, SA
Tickets: oztix.com.au
* The Sinking Teeth will not be playing
** Special guests Luca Brasi AND The Sinking Teeth
