Stream: KillRadio, ‘Good for Nothing’

Kevin Bronson on June 28th, 2019

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As the political tide has turned, so, too, have the efforts of KillRadio, the L.A. quartet whose guitar-spiked screeds tore through the landscape in the mid-Aughts.

The band — Brandon Jordan, Todd “Dirty” Bondy, Sergio “Duke” Reyes and Jasten King — reached its zenith in 2004, releasing the album “Raise on Whipped Cream” on Columbia Records (they were signed by ex-MTV host Matt Pinfield and Jon Pikus, then A&R executives for the label). It is Pinfield who introduces “This Land Is Your Land?,” the foursome’s first release since the year they broke up, 2008, with the spoken-word mantra: “Just because punk rock isn’t new doesn’t mean it has to sound old.”

KillRadio then goes about reinforcing Pinfield’s point for six songs.

It’s the first of four EPs, which eventually will comprise a concept album, from the quartet, who reunited after (and because of) the 2016 election, first sharing live streams of their practices before issuing the single that seems to sum up their feelings: “Same Shit, Different Toilet.”

“It’s kinda sad when the President of the United States has a bigger mouth than your punk rock friends, so we put on our tight pants, turned up our amps and made a record about it.” Jordan says. “Considering today’s rhetoric in America, we felt it was necessary to approach this album with straightforward, honest songwriting and grit.”

It is as unapologetically political as it is adherent to the craft of punk rock. Middle fingers up, except when you’re applauding this reunion.

||| Stream: “Good for Nothing”