Local Album Review: Kingsley & Perdomo - Fake Smiles

​This week, Crossfade is taking a look at a number of recent releases from Fernando Perdomo's new local-centric label, Forward Motion.

Kingsley and Perdomo
Fake Smiles
(Forward Motion)

Judging by the cover photo, these bearded, shaggy-haired minstrels could pass themselves off as twin sons from different mothers. In fact, one listen to this superb collaboration makes that conclusion seem all the more plausible. Fernando Perdomo's production offers an ideal complement to Vic Kingsley's breezy ballads, of which the bulk of this collection is comprised.

The music is a little less kinetic than that which Perdomo favors in his day job with Dreaming In Stereo. But it's still equally engaging, a flawless pop concoction that seems aimed at achieving mass appeal, with occasional detours towards a country connection.

"Howl at the Moon" provides an excellent example of effortless Americana, but the duo's down-home, banjo-fueled take on the Bee Gees' "Stayin' Alive" is really the clincher. It's an imaginative reworking that affirms the duo's better instincts. "So this is what it's like to record a hit song," one says to the other before the tape starts to roll. "Too bad we didn't write it," the other man notes in his reply. No worries though, guys. Judged on the evidence exhibited so far, that kind of feat is merely a matter of time.

Listen to their cover of "Stayin' Alive" below.