Thursday 21 May 2015

The Sludgelord News: LISTEN TO "DEAD ACTORS" FROM KEN MODE'S BOLD NEW ALBUM, SUCCESS

(photo credit: Brenna Faris)

  KEN mode have shared brand new track "Dead Actors" taken from their upcoming album, Success (to be released June 15th via Season Of Mist)

  In the band's own words, "Dead Actors is our tribute to both 90's indie rock and to the duality of the meaningfulness of conscious existence; it's self aware almost to a fault. We were trying to take the feeling of Slint, June of 44, maybe a dash of Dazzling Killmen, Engine Kid, and even Soundgarden and filter it through Manitoban wheat grass. For some reason it feels very 'Canadian Prairies' to me, and I really like that."

TAKE IN THE SMOULDERING KEN MODE TRACK "DEAD ACTORS"

  Read on for more info about Success and the band's upcoming live shows...
   
  Rock, noise, math, indie – KEN mode offer a root to it all on Success, locating a common ancestor that's behind all that they do and have done as a band. It's one seriously fermented sound that pervades these recordings, a goldrush of skewed rhythms, corrosive riffs and scorching pickup abuse, so diligently pulled off and inherently important to the band. Their path first appears to be one of complex inspiration, but a lineage soon becomes clear, lighting up a way through concentric circles of legacy that encompasses Revelation Records, Dischord, Touch And Go, Sub Pop – the full spread of inventive heavinesses that fed in to the grunge estuary, and out in to the open sea of independent labels in the final decade of the last century, where KEN mode first appeared. 

  Success is a funny concept; in its rawest, most pure form, it is entirely relative, and this was the subject KEN mode chose to approach their new album with. Sonically, and lyrically, a shift has been made from the classic spitting of metallic hardcore tinged vitriol, that the band has become known for, to a rawer, more mature, even humourous indie rock aesthetic. In April 2014, the band set out to pay tribute to where they've come from: a salute to both their Canadian Prairie roots, and a time when they first started to care about making music; the burgeoning 'grunge' and Touch & Go/Dischord scenes of the late 80s/early 90s, with bands like Nirvana, Big Black, Cop Shoot Cop, The Cows, Circus Lupus, and Drive Like Jehu warping their teenage minds. Lyrically, the band's fascination with comedy spirals around classical western concepts of 'success' - from employment, sex, marriage, religion, socioeconomic standing, and particularly the many perceptions people have of how they, and those around them, happen to fit into the world. 

  Recorded with legendary engineer Steve Albini (Nirvana, the Jesus Lizard, PJ Harvey and so many more) to capture the material in a fully live and analog session in the band's hometown in November 2014, brought to fruition is the most raw, rock and roll sound the band has ever put forth.

  Artwork from acclaimed Winnipeg based fine artist Randy Ortiz can be viewed below, along with the track listing for the album.



TRACK LIST:


1. Blessed
3. The Owl
4. I Just Liked Fire
6. A Passive Disaster
7. Failing At Fun Since 1981
8. A Catalog Of Small Disappointments

KEN MODE LIVE DATES

May 25, 2015 – La Louviere, Belgium @ Taverne Du Théâtre – Facebook
May 27, 2015 – Copenhagen, Denmark @ Kb18 – Facebook
May 28, 2015 – Hamburg, Germany @ Astra Stube – Facebook
May 29, 2015 – Paris, France @ OTB Festival – Facebook
May 31, 2015 – Bristol, UK @ Temples Festival – Facebook
June 1, 2015 – London, UK @ Macbeth – Facebook
June 2, 2015 – Lille, France @  La Peniche – Facebook
June 3, 2105 – Sint, Belgium @ Jeugdhuis Job – Facebook
June 6, 2015 – Poitiers, France @ Less Playboy Is More Cowboy Festival – Facebook
June 7, 2015  – Clermont-Ferrand, France @ Raymond

All dates with FIGHT AMPUTATION

June 16, 2015 – Toronto, ON @ The Shop (Parts & Labour) w/The Great Sabatini – Facebook
June 17, 2015 – Montreal, QC @ Turbo Haus w/The Great Sabatini, Fashion Police – Facebook
June 18, 2015 – Brooklyn, NY @ St. Vitus w/Pyrrhon, Couch Slut – Tickets – Facebook
June 19, 2015 – Philadelphia, PA @ Kung Fu Necktie – Tickets  – Facebook
June 20, 2015 – Columbus, OH @ Ace of Cups w/Lo-Pan – Tickets – Facebook
June 21, 2015 – Chicago, IL @ The Burlington w/The Swan King – Facebook
June 25, 2015 – Minneapolis, MN @ Turf Club w/Zebulon Pike, Buildings *no Fight Amp
June 26, 2015 – Winnipeg, MB @ The Goodwill w/Pop Crimes, Teethmarks *no Fight Amp – Tickets – Facebook

ALBUM TRAILER

PRE-ORDER LINK

Source: Rarely Unable