Night Kills The Day 'The Study Of Man' album

As a kid on a journey having human experience, Luke Brian spent a decade chasing down his demons. When he finally emerged from the dark bowels of New York City, he had the kind of life perspective most decadent rock frontmen would take an entire career to amass.

Reconnecting with lifelong friend Timothy Falzone just after the multi-instrumentalist saw his cousin perish in the September 11 terrorist attacks, the two found solace and purpose in music. Partnering up creatively, the pair weaned on everything from Depeche Mode to the Deftones to the Doors-drew strength from their long-term trusting relationship and mutual sobriety. Working weekends in the New York club scene to pay the rent and make connections, Luke and Timothy kept their weeks free for songwriting, rehearsals and shows. Before long, these products of a small, blue-collar Long Island fisherman’s town saw their band take shape and subsequently take hold of NYC venues.

“We have abused our privileges with every other vice,” Luke acknowledges. “This band is all that we have left and I think that is why it is powerful. And I personally believe this band is what helps keep us sane.”

After Timothy befriended dexterous NKD-defining guitarist Izzy Lugo in a Manhattan guitar shop, the line-up was cemented. “He came to one of our shows and he instantly wanted to play with us,” says Falzone. “I still had no idea how great of a guitarist he was, then I heard him simply warming up at his shop and he blew me away. I knew he had to be part of this.”

Steered by the smashing Pulp-meets-Pumpkins roar of “Dive,” The Study of Man... has a chameleon-like magic. Produced by New York legend Joe Blaney - who holds The Clash’s Combat Rock and discs by The Beastie Boys, The Ramones and Keith Richards to his credit - songs like the infectious, coke-addled soul-searching of “Meaning” or the atmospheric, anthemic disc-opener “After Hours” portray the collective vision of NKD.

Evoking everything from The Cure and Interpol to Pink Floyd, the band’s sound goes well beyond the confines of modern rock. For instance, “After Hours” was mainly influenced by Beethoven. While the contagious “All The Music In The World” came from Luke and Timothy sitting in a bedroom working with an acoustic guitar.

On both the epic disc closer “Blindfolded” and the introspective “Pornographic”, Luke and Lugo collaborated. “Izzy is a great idea man. He is this amazing genius of a kid. Then Timmy is the one who can see the whole picture of an entire song. He can shape something that Izzy and I come up with and do a completely different thing with it.”

Case in point is the tech-touched “Enjoy The Ride.” If the song is a forum for Night Kills The Day to put its cumulative wares on display, it goes a lot deeper for Luke, who was devastated when he lost his father to a drunk driver at age nine and began drinking when he was twelve. “I crashed my first car when I was 16 and I did it on purpose,” he says, explaining the song. “I just basically flipped a Lincoln Town Car at top speed.”

“I was like, ‘Okay God. Let me see what you’re made of. I’m going to test you,’” Luke continues. As the offspring of a Dominican Nun and a Franciscan Brother who fell in love and left the order, the singer’s soul searching propels tracks like “No Evolution” and the single-worthy “Rainbows In NYC.”

With the recent addition of Roger Benton, a drummer that the band nicked from another NYC outfit after the disc had been finalized, Night Kills the Day is complete. “He’s the perfect fit,” says Timothy of Benton’s allegiance. “He’s an amazing drummer with the attitude and drive that we had searched high and low for.”

Turning again to the band’s - its complete title The Study of Man... And The Developed Shadow, Luke says, “All of the themes on this album are very of the flesh. Man’s instincts for power, greed, survival and procreation times-10. There is sex addiction, drug addiction, money and even murder. And most importantly - weaving in and out of it all - the deep hunger for a connection to God.”

Night Kills the Day may not be a band with answers yet. But The Study of Man… asserts that something thrilling happens when its members join forces. “That is what this whole thing is about for us,” Luke concludes. “Becoming alive again.”

Press Quotes
“Scuttling out of the darkness comes The Study of Man…and the Developed Shadow, the debut album from the Big Apple’s Night Kills The Day. The driving ‘After Hours,’ which opens the set, is built around an incandescent series of arpeggios, a musical exercise for keyboard and guitar transformed by a propulsive rhythm and delicately shaded atmospheres. ‘Rainbows In N.Y.C.’ is an obvious homage to Depeche Mode and just as infectious as anything that band has written, while the equally memorable “Dive!” evokes New Model Army at their most anthemic. …the lyrics reach depths more familiar to the industrial world than the goth. No romancing death here—NKD’s dystopian visions dwell exclusively on an eternal internal battle, the struggle to make sense of life, and the war waged against our weak flesh to repress unwanted desires. Although religion is the set’s thematic focal point, it easily crosses denominational divides, resonating even with atheists in its quest to understand the negative impulses that drive us all. A stunning debut and a thoroughly haunting and evocative album.”
--Jo-Ann Greene, ALL MUSIC. COM, March 12, 2007

“Despite the obvious connections to The Cure or Bauhaus, Night Kills the Day stands apart. The four-piece have crafted a mature and layered experience that has a certain New York feel….The Study of Man… will haunt you even after you hit stop and move onto something else. It’s catchy, moody, melodic and overall engaging. From the atmospherics of guitarist Izzy Lugo, to the smooth rhythm section of bassist Timothy Falzone and drummer Roger Benton to the haunting voice of Luke Brian, Night Kills the Day is not a band that you will soon forget.”
--Chris Beaumont, BLOG CRITICS.ORG, March 2007

“Coming from NYC, these guys might just top The Strokes and The Bravery as the best rock band out of the Big Apple. There's a lot of bands now who try and copy the 80's style of music. Then there's bands like Night Kills The Day who sound more natural in the way they bring an 80's influence into their songs. It makes their work more authentic, rather than an effort that just winds up being trendy. Expect to hear more about this band.”
--Gordon Saylor, SOCIETY’S ELITE (blog), February 2, 2007

“[Night Kills The Day] indulge in wavelengths of electro-pop, flourishes and feathering synths with skillful handling. [The Study of Man…] is filled with airy melodic synths, dance club rhythms and gentle flowing atmospheres in the guitar motions and vocals. The tracks have characteristics of dream-pop, electro pop and shoegaze fusions. The result gives Night Kills the Day the musical significance of Radiohead in the showgaze arena with vast consonance in instrumentation and fluent vocals that carry a warm sonic frequency through the chord shifts and vaporous ranges.”
--Susan Frances, GARAGE RADIO, March 12, 2007

Luke Brian: Vocals
Timothy Falzone: Bass/Keyboards
Izzy Lugo: Guitar
Roger Benton: Drums

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Night Kills The Day - The Study Of Man