(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
9. Dead
Actors
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
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
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
