It’s undocumented whether King Tuff is really the king of being tough as his name implies, but there is one thing for sure, King Tuff/Kyle Thomas is pretty tough to beat for pop hooks that blaze and barrel through the ears like a fiery locomotive. Breakneck garage-y glam pop is best when fronted by a true character and Thomas owns it, goofily singing about ‘Monster Mash’ dance moves and about how much of a badass he is (see below video). And although his additional past and present projects (folk band Feathers, metal band with J Mascis called Witch and the ultra pop-y Happy Birthday) run the far gamut and show off a broad range of skills, it’s King Tuff where Thomas shines brightest. Tonight he stops at Quarters for a show in support of his latest album released on Sub Pop Records and before that all goes down, he will play a few songs for the WMSE listening audience on Bill’s Armed Fauxes Radio Show today at 2 p.m. CST. Tune in at 91.7 FM on your radio dial or stream live or in the archives at WMSE.org.
