THE RIDER: Komodos' Top 10
The band on moms, motorcycles and the warmest welcome to jam rock
Happy Thursday!
Delighted to interrupt your afternoon with a musical interlude courtesy of Brooklyn’s most cold-blooded (reptile joke) post-punk-plus-garage-rock band Komodos, whose new single “Dead” is OUT NOW!
"‘Dead’ started out as a shoegaze-inspired jam (now the chorus), and we kind of reverse engineered the rest of the track from there,” the band shared of their newest release. “It's a song about romance and the darker side of obsession, and we're very proud of where it ended up. Our producer Martin Bisi put some excellent finishing touches and really helped make it feel as big as we wanted it to—we recorded at his studio in Gowanus and were literally placing mics 20-30 feet away from our amps, and blasting them at volumes that were questionable for the health of our ears. But the result is something that feels massive, and we're very lucky to have been able to play around in the recording process like that. Thanks for listening - we hope you resonate with this in your own way, and that it might stir something in you.”
“Dead” is coming in hot on the musical heels of the band’s last single “Lucky Says”—also produced by Martin Bisi (Sonic Youth, voyeur)—which the band has been playing live for two years, in several variations, before finally pressing it into permanence and releasing it last month.
Check out both tracks (and the rest of Komodos’ music), and don’t miss your chance to catch the band live next month at Union Pool with Dallas Wax and Accomplice.
Then read on for Komodos’ Top 10—a list featuring morphine drips, a specific motorcycle and your (+ everyone’s) mom.
Have a really nice evening 🦎
KOMODOS’ TOP 10
1. Welcome to Jamrock – Live (Kokua Festival 2006)
This one doesn’t require an explanation, you’ll understand about a minute in.
2. Birria-Landia Tacos
Death-row type meal. A couple of years ago, Taran subsisted on these alone for about two weeks straight.
3. One Well-Poured Guinness
If followed by a well-split G, move to #1. Also move to #1 if followed by One More Well-Poured Guinness.
4. Yashi’s Motorcycle
Yashi is our fifth member. He doesn’t play an instrument but is nice with a camera. This bike is soon to be superseded by the one he’s currently building.
5. Wyckoff Heights Medical Center
We are still a band because of them. Shouts out the morphine drip and their ruptured-spleen-fixing technology.
6. Craigslist
Yet another thing to which we’re indebted. Great for finding elite bassists, cheap guitars, and lucrative side hustles.
7. Chicken Over Rice
The breakfast of champions. Ben prefers LA Burrito, otherwise try the bodega on Knickerbocker and DeKalb.
8. The Right Snare Sound
There are many good snare sounds, but there can only be one right one. We spend at least a good 20 minutes per mix finding it. Usually, it’s hiding under Martin’s coffee machine.
9.Moms
Again, no explanation needed.
10. Fine Time
For its beer-shot combo and the popcorn dispenser with Old Bay seasoning.
Top 10 written + submitted by Komodos. Follow the band at @komodosnyc, buy music on Bandcamp and add the songs to your Spotify playlists!
Feature image provided by the band.