The Living Kills
New York City, New York, United States | INDIE
Music
Press
"I am digging this garage/psych rock burner, "My Gun is a Fist," by The Living Kills. The guitar is fuzzy and acrobatic, the drums and bass are pounding, and the keyboard provides a nice texture. And it would be foolish not to mention singer/guitarist Merrill's howling voice, which is both rough and infectious. The band has a video for the song. In it, they alternate between a well-dressed game of croquet, and a more dressed-down, laying on the ground performance. Then the animal mask figures come and things get racous. Animals can't play croquet, that's crazy!!! Anyways, check it out below and click here to go to the band's website." - Those Who Dig
"I love the sound of this guitar on My Gun is a Fist. The distortion is hot and dirty; like a sulfry fart in a steam-filled shower. You'll literally flinch from the blast of warm air secreting from your speakers. The Living Kills back up that space-eating 12 string guitar with an "Iron Butterflied" organ, banging cymbals, raunchy vocals, and bending guitar leads. The sound is as thick as Ron Jeremy's fist-sized cock.
Hmmmmm. Is this how the song got its name????
Bend over and get ready for a fisting; compliments of The Living Kills and their collective gun." - SYFFAL
Artist: The Living Kills
Video: 'My Gun is a Fist'
Highlight: "We watch a lot of B-horror movies -- Hammer films, Japanese '70s cult classic 'Hausu,' 'The Wicker Man.' We try not to take ourselves too seriously and the creepiness and humor is what we try to do with our music," organ player Jennifer Bassett tells Spinner. "For the video, we wanted to mix comedy and violence, on a budget. The idea was sparked by an old croquet kit we had -- from there the masks just sort of developed. We wanted it to look like a demented birthday party. Regardless, the video makes us laugh a lot." - Spinner
"The Living Kills - “Angels Without Faces”
There’s a splendor inside “Angels Without Faces” that makes it distinguishable amongst the bands you just come to know. The intro is profound, determined and vigorous. I remember when I first watched the video for Oasis “D’Know What I Mean?” it left me a similar impression: the flamboyance in noise. It’s as though The Living Kills, within the time of only a debut EP and this, have piled up a portfolio of confidence. It’s not a light bulb upon your head that goes “This is the correct chord for this!” How the song presents itself is menacing, challenging and of course dainty. The shoe-gaze inside discovers itself pretty early on. Merrill Sherman, the lead vocalist’s voice is as neutral as Jim Reid, not emphasizing on a single part of his uneventful sonnet. Songs on Faceless Angels, The Living Kills’ full length are reportedly about childhood fears and embracing them with the help of late 60s equipment. Also a drugged up demo video of this plowing psych-rock tune is found here! I enjoyed it a lot to be honest." - Ghost FM
The Living Kills on Peer Pressure - East Village Radio
The Living Kills chart at #95 for the week of 9/21/11 - CMJ Radio 200
“Listening to this Brooklyn band feels like an eerie dream, like there’s a ghost lingering in their psychedelic rock. It’s unlikely that any of the members of The Living Kills lived through the 60s, yet their music can be easily confused as something from that era. Many of today’s up-and-coming bands, from Echo Park to Brooklyn, sound like the 60s, but not like this. The Living Kills sounds like The Doors and Jefferson Airplane. Their music is spooky and poetic, like an early Tim Burton movie.” - BeatCrave
"Sometimes you can judge a book--or a record, as it were--by its cover. The album artwork for The Living Kills' LP Faceless Angels pretty much tells you all you need to know: this is trippy, bluesy psychedelic rock that will take you back to the '60s and '70s. (In fact, the band used vintage equipment to lay down the record's 10 tracks.) Fans of The Black Angels and Black Rebel Motorcycle Club will enjoy this music, which has just a hint of '80s shoegaze rock thrown into the mix. But the fuzzy guitars, reverb-driven vocals and haunting organ--and, again, that album cover that is freaking me out, man--this is psych rock all the way.
Start with tracks 9, 1, 3 and 5." - WLUR 91.5 FM
"The Living Kills, a fantastic Brooklyn based and combo organ rockin’ fuzz psych band, are celebrating the release of a brand new 7 inch featuring their darkly frantic tunes at rock and roll bowling alley The Gutter in the extreme northside of Williamsburg BK." - GaragePunkNYC
"The Living Kills look, on the surface, like any other New York indie band waiting for its big break into the mainstream, but after one listen to “Angels Without Faces,” it becomes evident that’s not the case. Organs, synthesizers, ticking clocks and smoky male-and-female vocals make the group stand out from its peers. Merrill Sherman moved to NYC and found Jennifer Bassett, Brenden Beu and Yancy Sabericio to start the Living Kills, and by using only ’60s/’70s equipment, Faceless Angels (Past Futures) possesses new yet surprisingly nostalgic tracks. Download “Angels Without Faces” below." - MAGNET
"This psych rock outfit experiments with electric keyboard drones and and live effects, spinning cult classic projections and a passionate frontman. The cool, dark feel of the music - echo-y and chilled - can turn quite loud and plowing, an enveloping vibe to revel in." - The Deli
"The Living Kills blends shoegaze and new wave with coolly compelling results." - TimeOut New York
"These New York rocker's newest album features creeping organ, tons of noise and a great mix of '60s guitar nostalgia and modern shoe-gaze." - Spinner
Live performance and interview. - Yowie
Live phone interview. - Fearless Radio
"A four-piece band from Brooklyn playing spaced out 60's/70's psych rock that reminds me of some Yo La Tengo playing Velvet Underground. Good stuff." -- Rocksellout.com - Rocksellout.com
"...Membership isn’t limited to Brooklyn-based artists, but a fair number of the current members are locals you might you might spot on the G train. Among them, Clinton Hill residents Jennifer Bassett and Merrill Sherman (from the band The Living Kills), Greenpoint filmmaker James Jones, Williamsburg writer Eva Talmadge and Audrey Ference (the L Magazine’s “Natural Redhead”). Friends of Deadpan include KGB Bar, Kino Films, Past/Futures Records and the bands The Tablets and Miezekatze.
Deadpan’s inaugural event, held at Williamsburg’s Public Assembly last Friday, May 13, was populated with an eclectic mix of hipsters, friends, family, and art-loving types. Some were there to mingle with the collective members but others happened along because it was also the pre-release album party for The Living Kills." - New York Times
The Living Kills
Playing at: Don Pedro (90 Manhattan Ave., Williamsburg)
Get: Tickets FREE | Directions
Like dutiful musical offspring of the Velvet Underground, the Living Kills play the kind of dark, psychedelic rock that sounds like it should've drifted out of the windows of the Factory in its '60s heyday. "Wires of Copper," which comes from the Brooklyn quartet's EP You'll Miss Me Most, brims with trippy nostalgia. Band member Merrill Sherman opens the track with brooding vocals as bleak guitar expands into foreboding synth and strings
http://culture.wnyc.org/articles/music-hub/2010/mar/10/gig-alerts-living-kills/
- Culture WNYC
The Living Kills (we must be running out of band names) debut 7” offers up two distinctly now-New York moody popsike songs, despite having a sleeve design and overall aesthetic that dates back to 1993. “You’ll Miss Me Most” is the more succinct and upbeat of the two, but still finds time for a swirling organ driven and reverbed guitar trip down the rabbit hole. The laconic male vocals put the leather pants on the band’s Strokes vibe, and aren’t quite as solid as what the ladies offer on the flip. “Wires of Copper” employs a slowed-down “All Tomorrows Parties”; a plucked guitar drones over a prominent singular bass beat before the organ fills the space around the folksy double-tracked female vocals. This one has a longer tail of stacked synths and strings. All in all, a pleasant blend of old and new sounds. (http://www.myspace.com/litbylightning)
(Killedbyjeff) - Still Single
“Illuminated on stage by projections of vintage Muppets and cult films, The Living Kills play echo-y, strong and plowing psychedelic rock’n’roll. - The Deli
Discography
Single - "You'll Miss Me Most" (Krave)
Album - "Faceless Angels" (Past/Futures Records)
Photos
Bio
“The New York City based band The Living Kills are without a doubt a product of the 21st century. An amalgamation of so many genres and musical periods, their debut album Faceless Angels combines the warm and fuzzy charm of a 60’s rock outfit with the aggression and high energy of a middle finger saluting punk rock band and everything in between.” - DJ Poppa, Takeover Radio
For the last three years, The Living Kills have been quietly bridging the gap between Brooklyn’s garage punk and lo-fi scene, pairing the best 60s psychedelic rock with B-horror films, spaghetti western soundtracks, 90s Brit-rock, and electronic samples, to create a sound they like to call “psychotronic.”
After a self-released single, “You’ll Miss Me Most,” the band’s first full-length album “Faceless Angels,” mixed by Alex Newport (Death Cab for Cutie, Mars Volta, At the Drive-In), was picked up by Austin and Chicago based label Past/Futures Records. The album, which was a surprise CMJ Music Charter, was commended for its amalgamation of new and old.
Two line-ups later and with some touring under their belt, the band, now comprised of Merrill Sherman on lead vocals and guitar, Jennifer Bassett on organ and moog, Erica Keller on bass, and Brian del Guercio on drums, are finally coming into their own.
The band plans to record their next full-length at the end of the summer.
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