Kudu Returns with “Back For More: A Remix Collection” 6/10

“One of the bands to watch for from Brooklyn’s most vibrant music scene.”
The Guardian Unlimited

“Bracingly physical!”
New York Times

“Brash, active beats and refreshingly sparse electronics”
Time Out New York

“Kudu are raw, powerful, and darkly melodic- last-party-before-you-die music.”
NY Press

“Kudu are just great– a weird meld of torrid and frigid, alluring and domineering.”
Simon Reynolds

New York – Hailed as “one of New York’s most caustic, daringly inventive and criminally underrated dark electronic dance-pop outfits” with an equally eruptive live show, KUDU triumphantly return with their stunning new remix album “BACK FOR MORE: A REMIX COLLECTION”. Released in the United States on June 10th, the explosive set features over 70 minutes of energized selections including new and previously released tracks, rarities and masterful reconstructions by ARMAND VAN HELDEN, SINDEN, TOMMIE SUNSHINE, DROP THE LIME, KING BRITT, LINGLING, HESS IS MORE, DANCES WITH WHITE GIRLS, CURTIS VODKA and MKL.

“BACK FOR MORE” follows the Brooklyn-based trio’s acclaimed 2006 full-length “DEATH OF THE PARTY”; and much like its deliciously retro-modern, genre-hopping predecessor, the remix collection seamlessly navigates through a gritty urbana bursting with heavy neon-daubed grooves that meld dark melodic synth-pop and thunderous electro-punk with deviant future disco and gloriously twisted cabaret to create the ideal soundtrack for electronic-pop music lovers and dancefloor junkies.

Carefully compiled by KUDU, “BACK FOR MORE” is a well-crafted hybrid of adventurous reworks of stand-out selections from “DEATH OF THE PARTY” alongside the previously released “Cannibal (Bite Me Mix)” (lifted from the group’s eponymous self-released 2005 EP), the highly sought-after (and long out-of-print) Boom Boom!! (Black Blonde Mix)” and the ferocious new track “Your Words” (a hammering manifesto and collaboration with longtime friend / electronic dance music pioneer ARMAND VAN HELDEN that roars like a modern day Missing Persons meets Bow Wow Wow against a sweltering electronic backdrop).

The radiant, 13-track anthology reverberates with intricately revamped masterworks including KING BRITT’s experimental, guitar-driven no wave remodelling of the group’s sleazy electro-disco anthem “Bar Star”, KUDU’s own down and dirty crunked-up re-imagining of the boombastic “King Kong (Attack of the Egomaniac)”, TOMMIE SUNSHINE’s beefed up retooling of “Black Betty” (recasting the brash original as a soaring dancefloor juggernaut churning with assaultive drums, eerie dark synths and roaring harmonicas) and HESS IS MORE VS JENNO’s spellbinding reinterpretation of title track “Back For More” where the song’s haunting electronic backdrop has been ingeniously transformed into an intoxicating big band romp where romantic 60s space-pop exotica, Mexican Mariachi and Flamenco collide harmoniously in a dazzling kaleidoscope of sensual sounds for the cosmopolitan jet-set.

Underground heroes SINDEN and DROP THE LIME, and newcomer DANCES WITH WHITE GIRLS’ deliver decadent, high octane anthems with their feverish upbeat mixes of “DOTP” sleeper hits “Let’s Finish”, “Neon Graveyard” and “Suite Life”. While CURTIS VODKA closes the set with his epic 2057 Mix of “Hot Lava” (a tripped-out re-tweaking of the glitzy tropical Goth original into a hazy cauldron of sweeping electronic textures and relentless droning tech-house rhythms for late night club-goers).

Available digitally, on cd and as 2 limited edition 12” EPs for DJs and vinyl junkies (each containing exclusive bonus mixes unavailable on the cd release), the album brilliantly frames and echoes the band’s expansive musical scope, eruptive fury and stylized art-pop sophistication. Their unique sound taps into the raw energy and twisted sonic explorations of SIOUXSIE AND THE BANSHEES, THE CREATURES, ESG, pre-PURPLE RAIN era PRINCE, MISSING PERSONS, BOW WOW WOW and Detroit techno (circa ’91) creating a charismatic and gloriously decadent, “neon-pop” hybrid New York Press described as “raw, powerful, and darkly melodic- last-party-before-you-die music.”

Vocalist/songwriter Sylvia Gordon’s commanding erotically-charged vocals, provocative lyrics and razor-sharp delivery grip listeners in a soothing embrace against the poly-rhythmic primal beats of master drummer Deantoni “D” Parks and the menacing, bass-heavy groves of synth programmer Nick.

It’s not surprising that the group has become the darlings of New York’s underground music scene and a veritable force to reckon with attracting critical acclaim, a loyal cult following and the adoration of some of the most influential and established innovators in the music industry.

Over the past year alone, the multi-talented outfit has been invited to work with an impressive list of groundbreaking artists (both as collaborators and session musicians) including BASEMENT JAXX, THE MARS VOLTA, VELVET UNDERGROUND legend JOHN CALE, SPANK ROCK, ARMAND VAN HELDEN, SANTOGOLD, TELEPOPMUSIK, HESS IS MORE, ALICE SMITH, VERNON REID (of LIVING COLOR/YOHIMBE BROTHERS) and seminal New York post-punk/industrial outfit GRAY (JEAN-MICHEL BASQUIAT’S former band which includes VINCENT GALLO). More news on the actual outcomes of the aforementioned collaborations still to come!

“BACK FOR MORE” is just a hint of things to come for KUDU, who plan to follow the release with a US and European tour, an EP on DIPLO’s Mad Decent imprint and the long-overdue release of their as-yet-untitled new studio album in the late fall (on Nublu).