While everyone else was paying attention to Justin Bieber’s ‘bad boy’ antics, and Miley Cyrus’ attempts to twerk ‘what her mama gave her’ (I’ve seen more voluptuous flap jacks), Kansas City’s Architects flew right under the radar with their latest endeavor Border Wars. Border Wars is a five part EP/ graphic novel series that pairs the Missouri veterans with illustrator, Mallory Dorn. Tongue firmly placed in cheek vocalist Brandon Phillips has said, about the project, "We’re doing this, in the first place, because we’re jealous of Green Day and we’re jealous of the Foo Fighters and we’re jealous of Queen and The Who, because they are all able to give their fans an experience that cuts deeper than a catchy single, an album concept or a flashy stage show.” The more sincere guitarist Kennan Nichols recently spoke on the project as well, saying “Being able to hold, touch and read the liner notes that’s a lost beauty. I always remember that from being a kid and getting into music and the fact that its going away blows.”
Episode One takes off like a rocket to Mars fueled by adrenaline and whiskey, it gets you out of the atmosphere in a hurry. You aren’t sure where you are going, and you don’t care. You’re just glad to be off the ground and away from all of the degenerates that you discover in Episode One. The Architects get filthy on this one, and it’s just the crystal meth flavored coffee enema that the doctor ordered. On the opening track “Peter Fonda,” a trailblazer shot straight from the hip, vocalist Brandon Phillips screams “I’m Steve McQueen” and we yell yeah fucking right you are. Along the way, The Architects drive fast and take chances, pulling out all the stops with guitar solos, which in any other setting they would come off as pretentious and fascist, but they pull it off with sincerity on the Springsteen-esque radio friendly diddies “I Chose Wrong” and “Heartbreaker.”
Episode One lands as vigorously as it launches with the song “Shivers,” a stripped down, heart thumping rock and roll song. Phillips hits us with the lyrics like “give me the shivers/give me the shakes/give me the goddamn creeps/I’ll take all I can take,” with the eerie closing track. Episode One takes us back to a time when rock and roll was sweaty and nasty. When tour buses smelled like an iceless fish market in July (they still smell like that, but we are just so detached from it now). Episode One is a filthy, grimy, drugged out, whiskey dicked, rock and roll record in its purest form.
Listen to "Peter Fonda" here.
Listen to "Peter Fonda" here.
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