Kinetic Stereokids 'Basement Kids' album

Kinetic Stereokids frontmen Justin Ford and Michael Steibel discovered their intense mutual tastes for Beck, church music, and collage art while at soccer camp in 1997. Soon enough, they were bringing banged-up acoustic guitars and pounding out the skeletons of what would later become key pieces in the Kinetic Stereokids’ catalogue. Justin and Mike began recording onto 4-tracks daily, creating drawers-full of material ranging from ridiculous audio collages to vibrant and lush soundscapes.

It was only through collaboration with long-time friends Dave Paschket (guitar) and Tony Vu (drums) that the signature KSK sound completely developed, heavy with the influences of DJ Shadow’s ethereal hip hop, Elliot Smith’s tortured ballads, Sonic Youth’s guitar wizardry, Can’s relentless live improvisation, as well as binding interpersonal tribulations.

Hailing from Flint, Michigan, KSK have created a buzz emanating from Detroit, throughout the Midwest and beyond, based on independently distributed basement recordings and raucous live performances. This attention lead to gigs alongside the likes of …And you will know us by the trail of the dead, Secret Machines, and Explosions in the Sky.

The Kinetic Stereokids set out to redefine unconventional: to push the limits of rock even further to prove that there can be no post-rock when rock is not dead. Like medieval folk songs strutting alongside driving hip-hop and rock beats, layers of delay-laden guitar melodies mix with noisy static and self-help tape loops to create a vast wash of psychedelic melody and funk. Add vocals ranging from breathy, emotional philosophizing to nonsense-raps and the sound is complete: pop songs gone far astray.

KSK’s unified sonic vision is only as furious or peaceful as the relations of the Kids themselves. What one sees onstage is four people who know each other so completely that they are able to complement, retreat, or take the helm without speaking a word -- four frantic minds functioning as one machine, an experience which is as apocalyptic as it is playful.

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Kinetic Stereokids - Basement Kids