KEN Mode Go Deeper and Darker with “He Was a Good Man, He Was a Taxpayer”
Noise rock outfit KEN Mode’s new album VOID is coming out this September and to mark that coming occasion, they’ve released a doozy of a second single. Where as “The Shrike” was loud and in your face, today’s release “He Was a Good Man, He Was a Taxpayer” takes a different approach altogether.
Featuring slow, dark riffs and a methodical pace for six straight minutes, “He Was a Good Man, He Was a Taxpayer” eschews their normal hardcore and noise rock sound for something more akin to gothic rock and noise. Frontman Jesse Matthewson said the track was a way for the band to experiment with their sound and push boundaries.
“Perhaps a little more post-punk than people are used to hearing us, but we had fun playing with synth and pushing the boundaries of the emotionality of this track. Is this noise goth? I don’t know. Does that sound stupid? Did I just invent a new genre? There are equal parts Bauhaus and Unsane on this, so maybe?”
When it was originally announced, VOID was described as a sequel to their 2022 album NULL. Matthewson said both were written and produced during the pandemic, which might explain their sound.
“This album is the companion piece to 2022’s NULL album. Both were written and produced at the same time, throughout the pandemic, and recorded by Andrew Schneider in the fall of 2021. The two-album arc was written with the intention of being two separate works that could be coupled together to make one full album.”
Definitely check out the track down below. VOID will release on September 22, but you can preorder your copy today.
Tour:
Sep 24 – Porto, PT @ Amplifest [Tickets]
Sep 26 – Rouen, FR @ Le 106 w/Fange [Tickets]
Sep 27 – Lille, FR @ L’Aéronef w/Fange [Tickets]
Sep 28 – Paris, FR @ Point Ephémère w/Fange [Tickets]
Sep 29 – Angoulême, FR @ La Nef w/Fange [Tickets]
Sep 30 – Clermont-Ferrand, FR @ La Coopérative de Mai w/Fange [Tickets]
Oct 1 – Yverdon-Les-Bains, CH @ L’Amalgame [Tickets]
Oct 2 – Karlsruhe, DE @ Jubez w/Fange [Tickets]
Oct 3 – Dresden, DE @ Ostpol w/Fange [Tickets]
Oct 4 – Wroclaw, PL @ Klub Łącznik w/Fange [Tickets]
Oct 5 – Berlin, DE @ Urban Spree w/Fange [Tickets]
Oct 7 – Aalborg, DK @ 1000 Fryd w/Fange [Tickets]
Oct 8 – Aarhus, DK @ HeadQuarters w/Fange [Tickets]
Oct 10 – Liege, BE @ La Zone w/Fange [Tickets]
Oct 11 – Haarlem, NL @ Patronaat w/Fange [Tickets]
Oct 12 – Bruxelles, BE @ Le Botanique w/Fange [Tickets]
Oct 13 – Brighton, UK @ The Hope & Ruin [Tickets]
Oct 14 – London, UK @ Islington Assembly Hall w/Lingua Ignota [Tickets]
Oct 31 – Portland, OR @ Hawthorne Theatre w/Baroness [Tickets]
Nov 3 – Seattle, WA @ Crocodile w/Baroness [Tickets]
Nov 4 – Vancouver, BC @ Rickshaw Theatre w/Baroness [Tickets]
Nov 6 – Edmonton, AB @ Union Hall w/Baroness [Tickets]
Nov 7 – Calgary, AB @ The Palace Theatre w/Baroness [Tickets]
Dec 1 – Denver, CO @ Decibel Metal & Beer Festival [Tickets]
KEN Mode, VOID tracklist
1) The Shrike
2) Painless
3) These Wires
4) We’re Small Enough
5) I Cannot
6) A Reluctance of Being
7) He Was a Good Man, He Was a Taxpayer
8) Not Today, Old Friend
