In the early 2010s, Krill emerged out of Boston in a loosely mathy tangle of guitars and neuroses and became a cult sensation for a generation of budding indie rock fans. The band's lifespan coincided with my late 20s and early 30s, and they came to my attention through my young millennial coworkers here at Stereogum, writers like James Rettig and Gabriela Tully Claymore who were about a decade behind me. After years of identifying as a young person, I was witnessing the rise of movements like Odd Future that felt like they belonged to the next generation. This was also the height of indie poptimism (SUCH GREAT HEIGHTS in stores now), and with each successive buzz band delving deeper into synthpop or R&B or experimental electronics, I didn't even realize kids were still making scrappy, guitar-centric indie anymore. But my younger colleagues loved Krill, and that gave me hope for the future of the old-school indie rock that soundtracked my own high school and college years. I now realize that everything comes back around again — even Krill, apparently.
Krill broke up in 2015, but the members have stayed connected. They reunited for peers LVL UP's farewell show in 2018, and then three of the four members started a new long-distance called Knot, which released an album in pandemic times. Now Jonah Furman, Ian Becker, and new member Andrew Clinkman (Moontype, Spirits Having Fun) are operating out of Chicago, and they've got a new Krill album ready to rock. Over the summer, the band made their grand return as recording artists with comeback single "Commemorative Plaque." That's on Secret Language, the new Krill album announced today.
So is "Dominate," a new song out today that really snuck up on me. "Dominate" starts out humbly enough, a thoughtful midtempo indie track with sensitive nasal vocals and a dive-bar-ready post-hardcore rumble. But as it moves along, the lyrics get more intense, and Furman raises his voice accordingly. Suddenly nostalgia for the Jordan-era NBA is blurring into horrific memories of the War On Terror. Let Furman explain:
"Dominate" is a song about growing up in the 90s and 00s in the heart of empire, the violence of wanting to win, how we teach our children to want to dominate others, a US TV culture of watching gladiator-like scenes of rule by power. It’s about war, it’s about basketball, it’s about childhood.
The shift from Chicago Bulls to "shock and awe" grabbed my attention, and Furman had me on the edge of my seat by the time these lines rolled around: "When history ends, who plays the end credits? When the audience leaves, what home do they go to? It takes a village to burn down a village." I don't know, maybe this band does belong to my generation because "Dominate" has me in shambles reflecting back on my own coming of age.
Watch the video below, and listen for the "beautiful sax" credited to Will Greene.
TRACKLIST:
01 "Porch"
02 "Dominate"
03 "Commemorative Plaque"
04 "Driving"
05 "Snails"
06 "Hawaii"
07 "Karst Fenster"
08 "Secret Language"
09 "Theme From Krill 2"
Secret Language is out 11/13 via Exploding In Sound. Pre-order it here.
