...Of Monarchs and Beggars - Single

Album Review

Those in the know will recognize the provenance of Dirty Sweet's name immediately; don't panic, the sound of ...Of Monarchs and Beggars makes it immediately clear that they named themselves after T. Rex's original "Bang a Gong (Get It On)," not the Power Station's tepid '80s remake. Dirty Sweet is not a glam pastiche — check out the hair-and-stache combos and boogie-dude threads in the band photos for proof of that — but their take on '70s cock rock has a more than a hint of Marc Bolan's rubbery fusion of sex and mysticism. And while there's more than a little play-acting on display on ...Of Monarchs and Beggars — Stillwater, the band from Cameron Crowe's Almost Famous, comes to mind on several tracks, especially the lighters-in-the-air epic "Long Line Down" — the listener never gets the sense that the band thinks they're slumming. (Unlike, say, Jet.) ...Of Monarchs and Beggars is the work of a bunch of young musicians who appreciate the Allman Brothers Band and Led Zeppelin alongside Death Cab for Cutie, and it's a highly enjoyable listen for anyone with a tolerance for the long version of "Free Bird."