It seems CKY have a knack for delivering raw, authentic material with every release. Since the early days of their skate-punk upbringing, they have continued to improve and impress with their upcoming album ‘The Phoenix’, set for release June 16, being no exception. CKY have gained quite a bit of notoriety with musical contributions to the CKY video series, as well as the TV show Jackass, launching their musical ventures to new heights. They’ve grown to be known for their groove-ridden, octave-driven sound that any CKY (or Jackass) fan will immediately recognize.
CKY quickly grew into an uncontrollable force with the release of their 1999 debut album, ‘Volume 1’, and cemented the CKY name across several music genres with their 2002 sophomore album, ‘Infiltrate. Destroy. Rebuild.’ , and the 2005 release ‘An Answer Can Be Found’, both courtesy of Island/Def Jam Music Group. However, the group parted ways with Island/Def Jam Music Group and joined forces with Roadrunner Records to release ‘Carver City’ in 2009.
Original singer/guitarist, Deron Miller, left the band in 2011 leaving singer/guitarist Chad Ginsburg, drummer Jess Margera, and bassist Matt Deis to continue as a trio. Thankfully, the guys have not been idle and they will prove just that when the band’s first album in 8 years, ‘The Phoenix’, courtesy of Entertainment One Music, hits shelves.
“We made sure that we went into the studio with our guns blazing,” Margera states. “This isn’t a bunch of parts thrown together. We focused on the songs. We didn’t ‘have to’ make this album, we wanted to.” This definitely shows when listening to “The Phoenix”. It’s comprised of melodic, riff-driven songs that, when put together, create a monster of an album that could quite arguably be the band’s best one to date.
The band recorded the upcoming album at the famed Rancho De La Luna studio in California and attributes the ‘magic’ of the studio’s atmosphere to the flow of musical creation.
“It’s the center of something out there,” Ginsburg states. “There’s a magnetic pull or something that lands directly in (studio founder) Dave’s backyard. I was just relaxed, waking up in the morning and getting right into the music.”
Songs like “Wiping Off The Dead”, “Unknown Enemy” and “Days of Self Destruction” sound like they’ve been pulled right out of the ‘Volume 1’ days, keeping the CKY legacy very much alive. They’re packed with catchy riffs and a groove-filled rhythm section, both strung along by Ginsburg’s melodic vocals. However, the aforementioned tracks are only scratching the surface. Personally, it was very difficult for me to pick one track over another, as they all have their own personality, so it was basically an ‘apples to oranges’ kind of thing. It’s one of those instances where I would hear a track, fall in love with it, not wanting it to end, and then repeating the process with every song. This was especially true with “Replaceable”, but not to take away from other album greats such as “Lies From You” and “Head For A Breakdown”.
As the band’s second album title states: Infiltrate. Destroy. Rebuild. That’s exactly what the trio have done – they have infiltrated the minds of listeners, destroyed the stereotypes, and rebuilt themselves to become a name that people will remember for years to come.
“We’re feeling rather lucky,” Ginsburg says. “We’re not taking things for granted. We’re saturated in gratitude. It’s an incredibly humbled CKY, with a fire to last another twenty years. The point is to go play rock n’ roll and appreciate everybody else who does it, too. It’s a lucky job to have.”
Be sure to pick up ‘The Phoenix’ in stores June 16, 2017 and catch CKY on the Van’s Warped Tour all Summer long, coming to a city near you!
