New York, NY (Top40 Charts) Missouri-based post-punk synth wave duo Kudzu are set to release their new album 'Defeated' via Push & Pull Records following rave reviews of the lead single 'No Backbone'. This album is a reaction to mounting disappointments and frustrations with increasingly frustrating and disappointing realities.
On this 9-track long-play, Kudzu delivers a cheerfully caustic synth pop assault with psychedelic underpinnings, like paint fumes you'd happily dance to. The offerings range from post-punk (Defeated) to synth pop (One Purpose, No Backbone) and tracks with a darker more industrial sense (Balking The Grave). The vocal delivery oscillates between John Lydon of
Sex Pistols and PiL fame and the cold sinister lyricism of Al Jourgensen's Ministry in the band's earliest phase.
Based in Springfield, Kudzu is Seth Goodwin (vocals, synth, and drum programming) and Mark Gillenwaters (vocals and guitar). Influenced by bands such as
Tears For Fears, The Cure, Spectrum, Guided by Voices, Sympathy Nervous, and This Heat, they've managed to concoct a sound original from any of them.
"A lot of these songs come from a place of disenchantment with punk and "diy" scenes i've dedicated too much time to and the resulting dissociation as i've continued to have involvement in those scenes," says Seth Goodwin. "A documentation of a transitional period that im sure a lot of people feel as they start to feel parts of them age out from this type of lifestyle but dont know how to do anything else."
'Defeated' was recorded by Adam Schoeller and Jonathan
James at No Coast Recording, and mixed by the latter, with Shay Rainey creating the cover artwork.
"While we were working on new material, I drew inspiration from the petty frustrations of everyday life and the stark reality of life in the ozarks. i feel like there is a type of alienation that you can harbor in a place like this that lends it's self to bleak music. I like to treat lyrics as more emotional than literal so some lyrics might not make sense but still convey the emotion I'm trying to present," says Mark Gillenwaters.
'Defeated' is available on cassette and digitally via Push & Pull Records. The first batch is a small 50-copy limited edition on high quality chrome cassette, which can be obtained via Kudzu's Bandcamp.
"An infectious offering that triggers awesome associations with the best of 80s underground goth-rock, darkwave and synthpop but with some very cool sonic curveballs thrown in along the way. Early Ministry comes to mind and bands like Section 25, A Certain Ratio, and Cabaret Voltaire, along with newer bands like Schonwald, The KVB, and even stylistic glimpses of Be Forest" - The Big Takeover Magazine
"
Defeated" rings like a victory for the band, leaving a strong impression on the listener and delivering an interesting sonic union of John Lydon in his most upbeat-punk moments, abrasively gritty noise-rock, and a deft electro/synth touch" -
Rebel Noise
"Surreal... heavily washed out and psychedelic to brilliant effect... fucking outrageously good - a hard to exhaust album. Repeated listenings will reveal another of the tracks as being your new favorite" - Spacerockmountain
"An edgy unplugged sound... a mix of pop rock with psychedelic riffs thrown in" - 417 Magazine
TRACK LIST
1. Some Cops 03:33
2. No Backbone 03:10
3. Defeated 03:18
4. Burn Yourself 03:00
5. Balking the Grave 02:39
6. Sleep in Disguise 03:10
7. One Purpose 04:57
8. When You Were Mine 03:37
9. B.I.Y.E. 03:05
