Queens-based Skeleton & the Kings of All Cities was previously known as Skeleton & the Girl-Faced Boys. Though the band’s new moniker is equally confusing, its oddly fashioned pop sound remains the same; perhaps just a bit more conceptual on the group’s latest project, Lucas.

The concept album revolves around a Moses-like tale of a cracked king and his crusade to homogenize his subjects. Thematically, the record and the band may seem a bit extravagant, yet it fits perfectly with Skeletons’ acid-inflected math- and freak-folk-inspired pop–somewhere in between Paw Tracks and P.W. Elverum & Sun. As their label, Ghostly International, puts it, they are known for their “everything-but-the-kitchen-sink instrumentation and uncommon arrangements.”

Lucas is out May 8, 2007 on Ghostly.

Tracklisting
1. What They Said