Posts Tagged ‘Mike Krol’

MIKE KROL – ” Mike Krol Is Never Dead: The First Two Records “

Posted: November 5, 2020 in CLASSIC ALBUMS, MUSIC
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Mike Krol is a band/idea out of Los Angeles, with additional members in Minneapolis, Madison, and Seattle. This Thursday at 9pm ET, the one and only Mike Krol will premiere his “Halloween Deadstream” concert on NoonChorus this week. Fans both old and new can expect all the hallmarks of a Mike Krol live performance: his full band in costume, strobe lights, smoke machine, distortion, and more! With a 72-hour rebroadcast of the performance. 

Krol has also announced a CD reissue of the seasonally appropriate Mike Krol Is Never Dead: The First Two Records, out January 29th, 2021. The 3-CD box set includes Krol’s first two albums—I Hate Jazz and Trust Fund—housed in miniature-sized reproductions of the original album tri-fold wallets, and an additional disc filled with a comprehensive selection of outtakes, demos, and B-sides from that era. 

Most listeners were introduced to Mike Krol in 2015 with the release of his Merge Records debut, Turkey. Few knew at the time that Turkey was actually Chapter 3 of the Krol saga, and that he had self-released two records years earlier. To the delight of his new legion of fans, Merge reissued those early albums as the 2017 collection “Mike Krol Is Never Dead”. With that release, “I Hate Jazz” and “Trust Fund” found new life, and the inclusion of digital-only rarities led to fresh demand for this CD reissue.

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Self-released on LP in 2011, “I Hate Jazz” was the opening salvo of World War Krol. Only 500 copies were pressed; they were given away to anyone who showed interest (and many who showed none whatsoever). Including Krol classics like “Fifteen Minutes” and “Like a Star,” the record had long been unavailable. Trust Fund followed in 2013; its 500 LPs sold out on the ensuing tour, fuelling a mini-mania that would elevate it to cult status.

Here’s Krol take on the new CD edition:
One of the most frequent questions I get on tour is “Where can I get your first album on CD?” (second only to “So… do you actually hate jazz?”). As a Compact Disc lover myself, I always assumed we were a dying breed, and that manufacturing this music on plastic would only fulfill the personal satisfaction I’d get from having my full discography lined up on a shelf. But over time, the fans have spoken and demanded I make these albums available on CD. So here they are, with the rarely-seen-in-person full album art intact. Completists, rejoice!

originally released July 14th, 2017.

All songs written and performed by Mike Krol
With the help of

Phil Mahlstadt – Bass on all tracks
Michael Sienkowski – Keyboard, Tambourine, Whistling
Elliott Kozel – Lead Guitar, Organs, chord changes for “Locker”
Erik Duerr – Heavy Metal Guitar, Janitor
Andy Brawner – Nothing

From the album Mike Krol Is Never Dead: The First Two Records, out July 14th, 2017 on Merge Records.

MIKE KROL – ” Power Chords “

Posted: February 1, 2019 in CLASSIC ALBUMS, MUSIC
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Fuzzy garage rock has rarely contained this much wistful heartache. The previous album from Los Angeles-based musician Mike Krol, 2015’s Turkey, clocked in at just 18 minutes, but packed in a year’s worth of rambunctious potency. His new record, “Power Chords”, clocking it at nearly double the length of its predecessor, feels almost indulgent in comparison, but with its added running time comes a bit more thematic focus. Power Chords is a distinctly ugly record, but that’s part of the appeal. Though its sonic palette isn’t wide-ranging by any means, Krol’s grubby rock is better when its knees are scraped, eyes are bloodshot and heart is ripped open. Krol risks overshadowing his angsty songs with his thick, Stroke-like vocal filters, but they bring this angst to life by adding a dimension of teenage nostalgia with its bedroom DIY feel. While the sonics can feel tiresome after a while, Krol ends on a high note with his extremely muddy cut, “The End,” which is nicely offset with a piercing synth interlude.

“Hold me close / Don’t ever let me go / Cause I’ve been waiting / All my life for the moment / To tell you so / With a couple power chords / I’m gonna let you know / That revenge is better / When you come from down below.”

That’s the chorus of the first song, “Power Chords,” on my new album of the same name, which is released into the world today. Touring for my previous album, “Turkey,” ended in December of 2015, and by February of 2016, I found myself without an apartment, without any money, and had just ended a 3 year relationship. I put all my belongings in a storage unit in Glassell Park, and got a one-way ticket to Wisconsin to move back in with my parents. I was 31. Completely disillusioned and frustrated with “music as a career,” I began searching for the spark of what made me excited about songs in the first place. I sat in my old childhood bedroom, with a guitar in hand, trying to fall in love with music again. Eventually I saved up enough money to move back to LA, got a new place to live, met new people, had new experiences, and slowly but surely I started to compile the songs that would make up this album.

Music is a crazy thing. It can make you feel a range of emotions within a few seconds. It can transport your mind instantly back to a person, a place, a time, or a memory, as soon as you hear the first notes. Find something that makes you feel invincible, that gives you hope, and changes your life. To quote my press release, “Music ruined Krol’s life. And then saved it. In chronicling that process, Krol has made his best record—painful, voyeuristic, and angry, but ultimately transcendent and timeless. It is the sound of Krol giving in to a force greater than himself, as though the chords are playing him rather than the other way around.”

Power Chords is much more lyrically mature and musically adept than your average garage rock record, and its teenage sheen might urge you to fanatically scroll the lyrics on your notebook or bedroom wall of choice.

“Power Chords” is OUT NOW on Merge Records: