KEN mode at the Raccoon Motel -- October 21.
Friday, October 21, 8 p.m.
Raccoon Motel, 315 East Second Street, Davenport IA
Touring in support of their 2022 album Null, a work that Distorted Sound magazine praised for being "as effective and affecting at its most chaotic as it is at its most methodical," the post-hardcore and noise-rock musicians of KEN mode headline an October 21 concert at Davenport's Raccoon Motel, their latest recording inspiring Blabbermouth.net to state that "given an honest chance, KEN mode will blow minds with albums like Null."
With the band originating in Canada's Winnipeg, Manitoba, in 1999, KEN mode (it capitalized letters an acronym for Kill Everyone Now) was formed by brothers Jesse (guitar/vocals) and Shane Matthewson (drums) and longtime friend Darryl Laxdal (bass), and the group released several demos before the 2003 release of their first full-length Mongrel. Several tours followed with the likes of Relapse Records' The End, Sulaco, and American Heritage, in addition to regional dates with Mastodon, Burnt by the Sun, Anodyne, Pelican, Harkonen, Breather Resist, The Dream Is Dead, Psyopus, Daughters, and Buried Inside across the Midwestern and East Coast United States, as well as Canada. The group's follow-up recording Reprisal was released in 2006 on CD by Escape Artist Records and on double-LP by No List Records, and after Laxdal left the band, he was replaced by Drew Johnston, a guitarist from Electro Quarterstaff who also played with the Matthewsons and Laxdal in Hide Your Daughters.
Following the release of 2008's Memmonite, KEN mode toured with such outfits as Gaza, Engineer, Rosetta, Black Breath, and Khann before delivering 2011's Venerable, which won for the band Canada's inaugural Heavy Metal/Hard Music Album of the Year citation at the 2012 Juno Awards. Venerable was also nominated for Rock Album of the Year by the Western Canadian Music Awards, and KEN mode went through three successive bassists before enlisting former Khann guitarist and songwriter Andrew LaCour, who toured with the band from July 2011 onward and contribute to the writing of fifth album Entrench in 2013. In June of that year, the album was longlisted for the 2013 Polaris Music Prize and was eventually nominated for the Heavy Metal/Hard Music Album of the Year Juno Award. Since then, KEN mode has enjoyed hits with 2015's aptly titled Success, 2018's Loved, and their new Null, the former two having also scored Juno recognition as Metal/Hard Music Album of the Year nominees.
KEN mode headlines their Davenport engagement on October 21 with additional sets by Frail Body, Closet Witch, and Wanderer, admission to the 8 p.m. concert is $15, and more information and tickets are available by visiting TheRaccoonMotel.com.
