Guelph-bred/Toronto-based band King Cobb Steelie has been pretty quiet since releasing its 2004 effort, Destroy All Codes, but the band members did get together to play a couple of charity shows in 2011. The politically charged sonic explorers are at it again for a Toronto show on Nov. 29 at the Horseshoe and in Guelph on Dec. 14 at Van Gogh’s Ear, this time in support of the reissue of their 1994 sophomore LP, Project Twinkle.
Bandleader Kevan Byrne answers questions about the release below, and you can stream it right here for a week.
ListenProject Twinkle by King Cobb Steelie
Streaming until Dec. 4
Tracklist
Of all your releases, what inspired you to re-release Project Twinkle?
That came about because Kim Cooke, whom we had known from his days in A&R at Warner, offered to release it on his label Pheromone. Kim was a longtime fan of that CD and knew that it was out of print. So he thought it was a good idea to reissue and we agreed.
Listening back, what strikes you about where KCS was at the time and how this era informed where it was going next?
What I recall about us at the time was the desire to be more expansive with our writing. Meaning we had been inspired by a lot of music like dub and Afrobeat and more adventurous experiments by musicians like the On-U Sound collectives (African Head Charge, Singers and Players, Dub Syndicate). Or stuff like My Life in the Bush of Ghosts. And of course Fugazi.
We were looking for a way to map all of these references onto what we had already laid out as KCS. And it was also an ambitious time for people making music in Canada. There were a lot of bands and artists that had exceptionally unique voices. It was weird and wonderful. The homogenized "alt rock" sound came a bit later as bands began to sign to bigger labels either here or in America.
What's the deal with the bonus track, "Italian Ufology Today" by Mad Professor?
We had some remixes done for a few different tracks from Project Twinkle, which were eventually released as a bonus disc with the first 1,000 copies of Junior Relaxer. And I believe we also pressed some promo-only vinyl with one remix and maybe something from JR. At any rate the best of the bunch is the Mad Professor remix and it’s just a nice addition to the CD.
What's next for KCS? More reissues?
There are some new songs — one of which we will play for some upcoming shows. And there is some interest in reissuing the first KCS CD (also long out of print). We haven't had that conversation yet, as all of our energy has gone into preparing for the shows. There will be a plan for 2013. We're just not there yet; this ship moves ver-r-r-r-y slowly.
See King Cobb Steelie live in Toronto on Nov. 29 at the Horseshoe and in Guelph on Dec. 14 at Van Gogh’s Ear.
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