KNOCKED LOOSE just dropped their latest single “Hive Mind” featuring Denzel Curry, and apparently, Louisville, Kentucky’s David Armstrong Extreme Park wasn’t extreme enough for this collaboration. Eric Richter and vocalist Bryan Garris directed the video, presumably because they couldn’t find anyone crazy enough to volunteer.
The band claims this is “something we’ve talked about doing for a long time,” which is music industry speak for “our manager suggested it during a budget meeting.” Garris added, “We wondered if we could pull it off,” which is exactly what I say before attempting to parallel park.
Denzel Curry apparently “gets it,” according to Garris, meaning he understood that a rap-metal collaboration in 2024 is either brilliant or a desperate cry for relevance. The jury’s still out, but the YouTube comments are… enthusiastic.
This follows their 2024 album “You Won’t Go Before You’re Supposed To”, which includes the Grammy-nominated track “Suffocate” featuring Poppy. The album received praise from everyone except your uncle who still thinks Napster was a good idea. Pitchfork gave it 8.0, calling it “so potent it has its own gravitational pull” – which is critic-speak for “it’s heavy, folks.”
The band will perform at Sick New World festival in Las Vegas (April 25) and Dallas (October 24), conveniently bookending their summer of opening for METALLICA. Nothing says “we’ve made it” like playing to stadiums while James Hetfield pretends not to notice you’re on stage.
Since forming in 2014 with their debut EP “Pop Culture” (the irony is delicious), KNOCKED LOOSE has been “sharpening the blade” of their sound. Their 2016 album “Laugh Tracks” featured “Counting Worms” – a song title that perfectly captures the existential dread of being in a touring band.
The Kentucky quintet consists of Bryan Garris (screaming), Isaac Hale and Nicko Calderon (distorted noise), Kevin Otten (bass frequencies that vibrate your fillings loose), and Kevin “Pacsun” Kaine (drums). Pacsun is presumably not sponsored by the mall brand, though that would be a brilliant crossover we didn’t know we needed.
Photo by Jared Leibowitz, who managed to capture the band looking both menacing and confused – the official dual expression of heavy music in 2024.
Chord F. Discord, the Beethoven of Buffoonery, is a self-taught expert in music who once claimed he could “play the kazoo in four languages.”
Born in Crescendo, Indiana, Chord’s first brush with fame came when he accidentally entered a yodeling contest thinking it was a pie-eating competition—and won both categories.
Chord F. Discord: proving that laughter, much like a poorly tuned ukulele, is truly universal.
