Uniform hit us with "The Killing of America", their second single from the NYC duo's upcoming full-length, Wake In Fright.
"We are surrounded by war and the whole world is burning and it doesn't seem like there are any appropriate reactions or responses left anymore," Greenberg elaborated. "This music is our response to and our reflection of the overwhelming violence, chaos, hate, and destruction that confronts us and everyone else in the world every day of our lives. When we play, I don't feel powerless anymore. I hope this record can help others transcend their anger and frustration."
Michael Berdan (ex Drunkdriver, York Factory Complaint) and guitarist/producer Ben Greenberg (ex-The Men, Hubble) return with a new batch of eight songs that incorporate elements of industrial music, thrash metal, harsh noise, and power electronics. Wake In Fright is a harrowing exploration of self-medication, painted in the colours of war.
The characters Berdan brings to life in his lyrics quit using but have ruinous relapses or struggle as their resolve crumbles; they use alcohol to ease their insomnia but and are helpless when they get sober and stop sleeping again; they're existential misanthropes trapped in dead-end lives. While the titles have been largely culled from the world of horror, thematically these songs have more in common with the works of Hubert Selby, Jr than Lucio Fulci.
Greenberg sets these stories to menacing guitar and samples of literal sounds of war - the kick drums are bombs going off, the snares are gunshots. He drew the record's immense sample library from action movies, Foley sound packs, field recordings and more. The guitar is as crucial as ever and now as indebted Slayer as it is to Big Black. The inner monologues of Berdan's characters and Greenberg's martial sonic palette collide, Wake in Fright finds its wrecking-ball power.
Before the break, Uniform joined forces with Pitchfork TV to perform their last single, 'Tabloid', in the back of a box truck speeding through Queens, NY. Filmed all on GoPro and directed by Jim Larson, watch 'Tabloid' here and check out a full list of west coast US dates below along with their NYC record release show - more TBA.
LIVE SHOWS
09/02/2017 - Brooklyn - NY, Brooklyn Bazaar, (w/ Black Marble)
16/02/2017 - Seattle - WA, Barboza
18/02/2017 - Olympia - WA, Obsidian, (w/ King Woman)
19/02/2017 - Portland - OR, Bunk Bar, (w/ King Woman)
21/02/2017 - Reno - NV, Holland Project
23/02/2017 - Los Angeles - CA, Union
24/02/2017 - San Diego - CA, Hideout, (w/ Black Marble)
25/02/2017 - Phoenix - AZ, Lunchbox
2 - Habit
3 - The Lost
4 - The Light at the End (Cause)
6 - Bootlicker
7 - Night of Fear
8 - The Light at the End (Effect)
"has black metal's penchant for fatalistic repetition, and Berdan's distant screech itself could work in that genre; even by black metal's standards, this is spartan"
- PITCHFORK
"the pair creates a sound that is rooted in punk and hardcore, but branches into metal, electronics, industrial, noise and a slew of other sounds, all to create their own version of an M1A1 Abrams - a bulldozing, take-no-prisoners, mechanized assault vehicle" - CLRVYNT
"searingly raw...combines carefully defined full-body distortion with bittersweet melodies." - THUMP
"bone-rattling" - STEREOGUM
"[Tabloid] a rabid, sprawling beast of track that rips the heart right out of the day...Reckless and relentless throughout, the three-minute track swells with a gargantuan sense of power, the snarling lead vocals barely subsiding for a moment as the dense, skewed guitars power onwards amid the swirling mass of dark atmosphere. An eye-popping, formidable introduction...brilliant" - GOLD FLAKE PAINT
"It’s crisp, sharp-edged and dangerous, and culminates in a full-on sonic supernova of mangled noise." - AURAL AGGRAVATION
