FROM:            KRISTINE ASHTON/LATHUM NELSON/MITCH SCHNEIDER

THE LIVING END TO RELEASE NEW ALBUM

‘MODERN ARTILLERY’ IN EARLY 2004 

FIRST SINGLE IS “WHO’S GONNA SAVE US”

Australian rock trio THE LIVING END will unveil their new album MODERN ARTILLERY in early 2004 on Reprise Records. Recorded in Los Angeles with producer Mark Trombino (Blink 182, Jimmy Eat World), MODERN ARTILLERY is armed with 14 volatile tracks that burn through the emotions that everyone shares: love, loss, regret and fear. THE LIVING END–who’ve built a reputation for their fiery live performances–will tour extensively in the States and abroad behindMODERN ARTILLERY.

MODERN ARTILLERY’s hot-blooded songs were created after the group overcame obstacles that might have killed lesser bands. In late summer 2001, singer, songwriter and guitarist CHRIS CHENEY got into a car accident just as the group was supposed to begin work on the follow up to their 2000 album Roll On. “It was pretty dire,” says CHENEY. “I couldn’t play guitar because of my injuries and I was in rehab for months.” CHRIS used the downtime to write an armory of songs that would end up on MODERN ARTILLERY: “It was a great opportunity to really hone my skills and by the time we were ready to get back into the studio I had some of the best songs I’d ever written.”

  After CHENEY’s recovery, upright bassist and vocalist SCOTT OWEN said they “were relaxed, recharged and ready to get down to it. Then, as soon as we got into the studio to begin doing some demos, our drummer quit.” Through this drawback, CHENEY and OWEN were able to find drummer ANDY STRACHAN. “Like everyone else in Melbourne,” says STRACHAN, “THE LIVING END were real heroes to me. They’d done it their way, with no compromises.”

 The first single from MODERN ARTILLERY will be “Who’s Gonna Save Us,” a vigorous rocker inspired by world events and the struggles everyone faces when trying to find a respectable leader. 

 Among the album’s other tracks is the rousing “Rising Up From The Ashes,” which CHENEY say was “written around the time when the future was a little uncertain. Nobody likes being written off.” When describing the frantic “Hold Up,” CHENEY said: “Put the money in the bag! What’s a more urgent subject than a bank heist? A bungled one. I like songs that are easily visualized.”

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