Local Spins spotlights the Grand Rapids-based band of “aliens” with a new album on tap while also debuting tracks by Phabies, Empress Eyes, Pablo Eskobear and more. Story, podcast and video.
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As self-proclaimed intergalactic outlaws seeking to “understand what it means to be human” by unleashing funky dance-rock that keeps people grooving at all times, The Cosmoknights’ mission is simple.
“We don’t want to let a moment of boredom slip into the set,” said drummer and so-called ship engineer Neptune.
Added Jupiter, the Grand Rapids-based band’s singer and ship leader: “The blood pressure should be high at all times.”
Resolutely staying in planetary character with “flamboyant theatrics” while dressing in “sparkly Spandex” and jumpsuits, the three-year-old band revels in “this mutual interaction between the performers and the audience,” said Jupiter.
“I think what makes The Cosmoknights special is less about the Cosmoknights themselves and (more) how the audience and the fans and the people who are interested in their music … make the Cosmoknights their own.”
Those fans will get their chance next Friday (Nov. 1) at The Pyramid Scheme in Grand Rapids when The Cosmoknights officially release their new studio album, “Monster & Machine,” filled with the upbeat, rousing and genre-blending disco, funk and rock that propels this rocketship crew.
The band (Jupiter, Neptune, guitarist Helios, keyboardist Saturn and bassist Pluto) purports to be “drawn to anything with a good rhythm” – in other words, “heartbreakin’, troublemakin’, booty-shakin’ rock ’n’ roll.” Frequently joining the group are fellow musical travelers Minerva, Luna, The Great Annihilator and others.
Inspired by everything from David Bowie, Talking Heads, Prince, Queen and Meatloaf to Brazilian bossa nova music and Japan’s Mass of the Fermenting Dregs, The Cosmoknights recorded tracks from the new album at Lowell’s Upstairs, Man Studios and Rockford’s Planet Sunday Studios.
CAPPING A YEAR’S WORTH OF WORK WITH ‘MONSTER & MACHINE’
The album project includes new material and “polished iterations” of some songs released on an earlier live recording, revolving around the theme of Earth’s “constant struggle between instinct and rewiring of internal programming.”
“This album is a bunch of aliens trying to figure out what it means to fit in between that balance. …The lyrics are satirical and exaggerated, tragic and nuanced – the instrumentation is brash and maximalist, sophisticated and intentional.”
While the band is eyeing future potential tour dates, its current focus is the Nov. 1 album-release show at The Pyramid Scheme, which will also feature sets from Big Timmy & The Heavy Chevys, Ben Bailey and Short Panic. The day-after-Halloween affair represents celebrated funk band Short Panic’s final Grand Rapids show, with some members slated to move to Chicago. Tickets are $15 in advance, available online here.
“The whole Halloween party makes so much sense for us because we shouldn’t be the only ones dressing up,” Jupiter insisted. “The whole fun is that everybody’s involved in it.”
Neptune described the album-release show as “the capstone on a year’s worth of work. At the moment for the band, every iota of effort is put right into that.”
For this week’s episode of Local Spins on WYCE – which spotlights Michigan artists at 11 a.m. Fridays and 5 p.m. Sundays on WYCE (88.1 FM) and online at wyce.org – The Cosmoknights debuted the tracks “Ain’t It a Sin” and “Big Bang Boogie.”
Listen to the tracks, the band interview and the full radio show below, including music by Phabies, Radio Vision, Gemini Moon, Short Panic, Pablo Eskobear, Whiskey Hunter, Tommy Schichtel, Don Julin, Empress Eyes, Out of Favor Boys and Pat Wieland.
PODCAST: Local Spins on WYCE (10/25/24)
VIDEO: The Cosmoknights on Mitten Music
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