NASHVILLE |FR: LIBBY HENRY/KRISTINE ASHTON
THE GOD AWFULS
RAISE THE ANTE WITH ‘NEXT STOP, ARMAGEDDON’; BAND’S DEBUT ALBUM DUE FEBRUARY 24 ON KUNG FU RECORDS
Picture this: a new punk-rock band that won’t make you sick.
Southern California’s THE GOD AWFULS—KEVIN DE FRANCO (vocals, guitar), CHRIS LA FAVE (guitar, vocals), KYLE LUMSDEN (bass, vocals) and JOHN SKELLY (drums)–are set to release their incendiary debut album NEXT STOP, ARMAGEDDON February 24, 2004 via Kung Fu Records, the indie Los Angeles label co-owned and operated by two of The Vandals: bassist Joe Escalante and guitarist Warren Fitzgerald.
Incorporating the band’s wide range of influences, NEXT STOP, ARMAGEDDON is brimming with the working class grit of The Clash and Stiff Little Fingers, combining revved-up late 70’s UK punk, West Coast 80’s hardcore and early 90’s alterna-punk to construct a distinct sound all their own.
For their debut, THE GOD AWFULS teamed with producers The Greedy Brothers–Blag Dahila, the infamous frontman of The Dwarves, and renowned engineer Brad Cook (The Distillers’ Coral Fang, Queens of The Stone Age’s R, Foo Fighters’ The Color and the Shape)–and the result is a fine-tuned punk-rock album filled with string-splitting guitar chords, explosive melodies and go-for-the-throat lyrics.
Check out “NRA” (“‘Cause the fuckers came too late to join the K.K.K.”), “Power Animal” (“Trading blood for money, selling flags and spinning lies/And business getting better was the battle cry”) and “Bullets & Batons” (“Color was the crime, doin’ fucking time/Covert operation kid, we’re cleaning up the nation”). THE GOD AWFULS also turn up the heat on the pissed-off anthem “Disconnected Youth,” the anti-neo-Nazi “Orion” and “Watch It Fall,” where the band throws down a challenge to the masses: “Complacent working class get up and off your ass/You say you die for freedom but the riot never comes.”
THE GOD AWFULS’ ferocious live show and anti-authoritarian stance have drawn recent praise from the press. In a live review, Dan Macintosh of Paste Magazine (June 2003) said, “The God Awfuls steered clear of the trappings of modern pop-punk. In a set that included an angry anti-war song (Anybody still remember when punk rock used to be synonymous with political activism?), this group spat out a half-hour’s worth of rocket-powered vitriol.”
In preparation for the release of NEXT STOP, ARMAGEDDON, the band has just announced a December 28 show in Pomona, CA at The Glass House. No strangers to the road, THE GOD AWFULS will be performing on this year’s Vans Warped Tour 2004, dates TBA. In addition, the band has opened for bands like Social Distortion, Buzzcocks, The Vandals and Swingin’ Utters. They’ll announce their tour plans for the early new year soon.
For more information, check out: www.kungfurecords.com/html/godawfuls.shtml and www.kungfurecords.com.
To arrange an interview, request an album for review or photos/cover art, please contact:
MSO 818-380-0400
Libby Henry x 224 lhenry@msopr.com
Kristine Ashton x 233 kashton@msopr.com
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