Albums
To buy Kinski records and merch, go here:
Kinski Bandcamp merch page
New Album, Stumbledown Terrace, coming March 2025!
Listen to the first single here:
Kinski’s journey through experimental melody and noise is a full-bore sensory thrill ride.
Described by NME as “like Sabbath in a washing machine during a power surge,” Kinski is back to its original power trio format of Chris Martin (guitar), Lucy Atkinson (bass) and Barrett Wilke (drums).
After 25 years and nine albums, including a trio on Sub Pop and three for Kill Rock Stars, Kinski has toured internationally with the likes of Acid Mothers Temple, Mission of Burma, Dead Meadow, Comets on Fire, and somehow even Tool.
On their Comedy Minus One debut “Stumbledown Terrace,” (cmo055) Kinski continues their exploration of heavy, provocative guitar-driven songs, sonorous rhythms, and emotional release.
Recorded with legendary producer Tim Green at Louder Studios, their new album fully captures the unmatchable energy and power of Kinski’s live shows.
Kinski will be touring in advance of and following the album’s March 2025 release.
Accustomed To Your Face
10/12/2018 – Kill Rock Stars
As they near their 20th year as a band, Kinski shows no signs of slowing down. They continue to push forward, seeking out new ways to blow your mind. Their new record, Accustomed to Your Face, sounds as free and daring as their early forays, but with the luster of confidence that comes with two decades of playing together.
Having played arenas and festivals across North America and Europe, Kinski is equally at home in a local club where they can test out new material, looking to find that choice spot between pure sound exploration and off the hook riffage. One never knows what to expect when seeing Kinski live (there may be some flute, a bass played with a bow), but no matter where the music ventures it will always come back round to expertly crafted rhythmically solid rock.
Accustomed to Your Face reflects that multi-faceted approach. In the tracks “Guest Girl Vocalist” and “There Goes Hot Stamper”, Kinski seems to have harnessed the power of early punk and wed it to their own tight and head-on approach to the genre. But then there is “Kinski 101,” a celebratory nod to their quintessential style of dynamically structured instrumental pieces. Weaving it all together is Kinski’s consistent command of their craft. The rhythm section is dialed in and the interplay between the guitars continues to be more than the sum of their parts.
With deep roots in krautrock and South American rock of the 60’s and 70’s, Kinski has always been a proponent of like-minded groups from around the world, and have brought many bands to the U.S. including Acid Mothers Temple (Japan) and Träd, Gräs Och Stenar (Sweden). Similarly, their collaborations with artists such as the dance duo robbinschilds and installation artist Jim Hobbs have been fruitful, allowing them to further delve into regions of sound, working from different perspectives while connecting with new audiences that may have otherwise remained unaware of their work.
Over the years, critics have tried to pin Kinski down to certain genres (the Psych-Rock-Post-Rock-Metal patchwork flag has been planted) but Kinski defy easy categorization, fluctuating between fast, driving rawk, and sweet, lilting melodies…they will melt your brain with their supersonic shredding, but they will give you a hug before you go home.
7 (or 8)
6/2/2015 – Kill Rock Stars
7 (Or 8)
Sometimes you just want to play FASTER. For a band whose extensive discography has historically been primarily instrumental and prone to modifying adjectives like “post-“ and “space-“, the last couple of years have been a left turn down a twisted alley of fuzz pedals, blown tube amps, and a kind of raw power befitting of the Stooges. There are quiet moments here and there but you get the feeling they’re only there so the drummer can catch his breath. 7 (or 8) finds Kinski sounding heavier, faster, and even more self-assured, picking up where 2013’s Cosy Moments left off but also pushing their sound into even more singular territory.
7 (or 8), the title itself a wry observation echoing the confusion created by their extensive catalog, is in fact their SEVENTH (or eighth depending who you ask) LP and second for new label home Kill Rock Stars, having previously released several LPs on Sub Pop and other discerning independent labels. Recorded and mixed in San Francisco at El Studio with Phil Manley (of Trans Am), 7 (or 8) comes in the midst of a more prolific period for the band. “It always takes us awhile to write a record but this one came quickly. We’ve stopped worrying about it so much and just get on with it, which is easier on the soul,” says guitarist/singer Chris Martin. This mindset, alongside their newfound lyricism, has revealed a band that is slyly self-aware, hinted at through years of tongue-in-cheek song titles but now fully evident. The quicker pace has also instilled a palpable confidence and energy on record.
That being said, 7 (or 8) hits like a ton of bricks. The double helping of riffs in the form of “Detroit Trickle Down” and “Flight Risk” leave the listener nearly out of breath. Martin, Lucy Atkinson (Bass), Matthew Reid-Schwartz (Guitar), and Barrett Wilke (Drums) stretch out a bit over the course of the record, marrying their more expansive sound with proto-punk fury, but they rarely let up until the last song, album highlight “Bulletin of the International String Figure Association”. One of the last songs written for the record, “Bulletin…” eases into a nearly 11 minute crescendo of rock bliss, gently flirts with a string section at the same time, and then floats back down to Earth in a perfect denouement. Like John Cassavetes and Gena Rowlands on the cover, Kinski strive to make art that is uncompromising and on their own terms and 7 (or 8) is a refreshing reminder that rock music in 2015 can still be a unique and cathartic experience.
1.Detroit Trickle Down
2.Flight Risk 03:36
3.I Fell Like a Fucking Flower
4.The Needle’s Fine
5.Drink Up and Be Somebody
6.Operation Negligee
7.Bulletin of the International String Figure Association
Cosy Moments
4/2/2013 – Kill Rock Stars
Cosy Moments is filled with the glistening, graceful chords and heavy proto-punk rhythms that have become Kinski’s hallmarks over the last 14 years of playing music together. To build the complex layers of sound on the album, guitarist & songwriter Chris Martin changed up the way he wrote the songs, leaving behind the pedals, amps and tones he would play around with while drafting songs and instead sticking to more traditional songwriting techniques. The result of his efforts are songs crafted on a solid framework, with each song reaching higher and higher through complex layers of crisp guitar arpeggios, pounding percussion and fleeting ethereal moments that are a far cry from Kinski’s earlier fuzzed out psych-metal work. The addition of a pop element is not the only evolution of the band’s sound. This album also features vocals, which is a dramatic shift for a band that is known primarily as an instrumental group.
Cosy Moments, the group’s sixth full length, is filled with Kinski’s dense, intricate and occasionally nearly deafening noise, a musical style that is almost completely contradictory to their album title. But even the band isn’t quite sure why they named the album Cosy Moments — a reference to a P.G. Wodehouse book “Psmith, Journalist” about a guy who is an editor of a leftist magazine called Cosy Moments. Listen for yourself!
1. Long Term Exit Strategy (7:40)
2. Last Day On Earth (1:40)
3. Skim Milf (1:53)
4. Riff DAD (3:01)
5. Throw It Up (6:39)
6. A Little Ticker Tape Never Hurt Anybody (4:36)
7. Conflict Free Diamonds (3:50)
8. Counterpointer (2:27)
9. We Think She’s A Nurse (5:36)
10. Let Me Take You Through My Thought Process (1:20)
A Clear Day and No Memories
(Improv recording)
12/3/2010 – Jim Hobbs & Kinski.
12″ LP Gatefold with Silkscreen Print. Limited Edition of 389 LP’s and fine art prints, produced on the occasion of the exhibition A CLEAR DAY AND NO MEMORIES, taking place from December 3, 2010 to January 14th, 2011 at Jack Straw Productions, Seattle, WA. These items are presented within a luxurious gatefold jacket, printed on uncoated stock with the center spread adorned with dozens of 16mm film scans taken from Hobbs’ work. On the album, Kinski‘s sound is given its time to roam across fields of dense drones, deafening noise, and minimal movements. For the print, Hobbs has utilized the format of an ‘A and B side’ to create a two sided silkscreen, taken from a single still image from his films. Each print is signed and numbered by the artist. Both the album and the silkscreen are housed in black, die cut dust sleeves. A digital download will also be available for those who purchase the work.
1. A Clear Day (21:53)
2. No Memories (14:27)
A CLEAR DAY AND NO MEMORIES was originally installed on Friday, December 3, 2010 – January 14, 2011 at Jack Straw Productions, Seattle Washington as part of their New Media Gallery Program. The installation included multiple 16mm films, with this vinyl pressing playing on two record players, with the A & B sides on repeat simultaneously. Please follow this link see and read more:
Down Below it’s Chaos
8/21/2007 – Sub Pop
1. Crybaby Blowout
2. Passwords & Alcohol
3. Dayroom at Narita Int’l.
4. Boy, Was I Mad!
5. Argentina Turner
6. Child Had to Catch a Train
7. Plan, Steal, Drive
8. Punching Goodbye out Front
9. Silent Biker Type
I Didn’t Mean to Interrupt Your Beautiful Moment
10/3/2006 – Three Lobed Recordings
(improv recording)
1. I Didn’t Mean To Interrupt Your Beautiful Moment – (39:15)
Alpine Static
July 12, 2005 – Sub Pop
August 24, 2005 …Human Highway (Japan version w/extra track)
1. Hot Stenographer (5:27)
2. The Wives of Artie Shaw (3:16)
3. Hiding Drugs in the Temple (Part 2) (3:31)
4. The Party Which You Know Will Be Heavy(7:50)
5. Passed Out on Your Lawn (8:55)
6. All Your Kids Have Turned to Static (5:20)
7. The Snowy Parts of Scandinavia (9:49)
8. Edge Set (9:30)
9. Waka Nusa (6:18)
(Japanese Version w/ extra track)
10. Journey to the Center of Milan
Don’t Climb On and Take the Holy Water
(improv recording)
May 4, 2004 … Strange Attractors Audio House
1. Never Compete with Small Girls (2:27)
2. The Misprint in the Gutenberg Print Shop (29:06)
3. Crepes the Cheap (4:48)
4. Bulky Knit Cheerleader Sweater (4:52)
5. There’s Nothing Sexy about Time (3:44)
Airs Above Your Station
Jan 21, 2003 – Sub Pop
May 2003 – Human Highway (Japan edition, includes extra track “I Wouldn’t Hurt a Fly” from Semaphore EP)
Vinyl … Strange Attractors Audio House
1. Steve’s Basement (9:54)
2. Semaphore (6:06)
3. Rhode Island Freakout (3:55)
4. Schedule for Using Pillows & Beanbags (11:37)
5. I Think I Blew It (7:59)
6. Your Lights are (out or) Burning Badly (8:44)
7. Waves of Second Guessing (8:22)
8. I Think I Blew It (Again) (2:57)
Be Gentle with the Warm Turtle
TBA 2018 – Finally to be released on vinyl. Stay tuned!
2005 – Strange Attractors Audio House/Intellectual Drunks reissue
2001 – Pacifico Records (out of print)
2002 – Sur la Plage (UK edition, includes extra track “My New Worry”) (out of print)
1. SpaceLaunch for Frenchie (7:40)
2. “New India” (7:00)
3. Newport (5:01)
4. One Ear in the Sun (6:27)
5. Daydream Intonation (6:42)
6. That Helmut Poe Kid’s Weird (7:49)
7. Montgomery (7:19)
8. My New Worry (UK version only) (7:06)
SpaceLaunch for Frenchie
2005 – Strange Attractors/Intellectual Drunks reissue
1999 – self release
1. Staring (7:07)
2. Floundering & Fluctuating (5:54)
3. Lecker (7:45)
4. Party (6:20)
5. Jetstream (10:40)
6. Losing Touch with my Mind (6:42)
Ampbuzz … This is My Ampbuzz
(guitarist Chris’ solo CD)
2002 – Strange Attractors Audio House
1. Bubbles (6:34)
2. Center for Clouds (6:40)
3. Soft Currency (7:01)
4. Diving Instructions (8:31)
5. Welcome to the Ocean Floor (8:09)
6. Underwater Bomb (6:18)
Kinski all over the place