Kinski

Guitarist Chris Martin and bassist Lucy Atkinson were deep in discussion about analog versus digital recording inside a Seattle pub when bartender Dave Weeks inserted himself into the conversation, asserting analog's clear superiority and thereby sparking the creation of Kinski. That same impulsive energy would shape the band's dense, experimental noise rock, echoing Sonic Youth in their most daring mode. Live performances commenced in 1998. During summer 1999 the original trio issued its debut, Space Launch for Frenchie, whose six tracks stretched across forty-five minutes and prompted fresh discussion over whether the release qualified as an EP or an LP. Later the same year the group began incorporating fresh sonic layers onstage, prompting the addition of friend Matthew Reid Schwartz on guitar and keyboards. Tours alongside Mainliner (Japan), Hovercraft, and Silkworm followed. Be Gentle with the Warm Turtle appeared in 2001. Two years afterward came the Sub Pop debut Airs Above Your Station, by which point Barrett Wilke had replaced Dave Weeks on drums; a split release with Acid Mothers Temple also surfaced that year. In spring 2004 a West Coast tour supporting Mission of Burma aligned with the arrival of the fourth album, Don't Climb on and Take the Holy Water. Alpine Static arrived in 2005. Down Below It's Chaos, released in 2007, introduced a '70s hard rock edge and vocals to the group's dense drones. After several collaborative projects, among them a split 7" with Bardo Pond, the sixth album Cosy Moments surfaced on Kill Rock Stars in 2013, concluding a five-year period of relative inactivity. Just two years later Kinski returned with 7 (Or 8). The band's twentieth anniversary in 2018 was marked by two releases: an October vinyl reissue of the 2001 record Be Gentle with the Warm Turtle and the new album Accustomed to Your Face, produced and recorded by Phil Manley of Trans Am, who had previously worked on 7 (Or 8).