So this is what happens when a bunch of Royal Conservatory of Music trained musicians get together and decide to do something different. Since 1999, KEN mode have been cranking out hard-hitting metallic punk rage, and now they’ve gone and created some brutal indie rock racket under the guidance of the god that is Steve Albini. Needless to say, it’s all analogue and has a rawness about it that suggests that any success these guys are after isn’t in the realms of the mainstream.
Sludgy, chunky bass weaves around drums that shake the speakers while the guitars... sheeeeet. The guitars! The combined effect is how I imagine it would feel to be hit by a Sherman tank. And on top of the lurching, tempo-changing, distorted-to-fuck chaos, there are yelled rants and sermons hollering and hectoring, Jesse Matthewson’s vocals going off the scale on the manic spectrum.
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It’s a strong and inventive set, the songs veering unpredictably every which way – think Truman’s Water on steroids – and played with a crazed ferocity. Choppy, angular... and did I mention it was noisy? It kinda makes you wish that this was the new Shellac album.
KEN mode Online
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