Boston indie-rock outfit BLACKOUT BALTER have just partnered with Consequence of Sound to premiere their debut EP Twist and Bendfeaturing Dave Keuning. Consequence of Sound praised the record, commenting on their connection with Keuning, “It’s easy to hear what drew Keuning to the band. While the instrumentation is a bit gruffer than the shimmering sound that The Killers made their name on, Cohen’s singing contains that same theatrical bent that runs throughout the group’s best tracks.”

Twist and Bend was recorded at Battle Born Studios in Las Vegas. The conglomerate was the result of a bold move by Blackout Balter frontman Phil Cohen who slipped Keuning one of his band’s demos. Grammy-nominated Keuning was so captivated by their sound that he opted to play guitar and cello on three songs on the record. “We were just hoping that Dave liked the demos. When we were put in touch with Robert Root (who produced and mixed Imagine Dragons), he dug the songs and offered to produce. I’ll never forget being in the studio and the four of us in the band just looking at each other, thinking, ‘Is this really happening?’” The result is an electrifying 6-song release of punk-dusted alt rock and synth-drenched flourishes.

"There's really no one like Dave, says Cohen. “He's an amazing artist, but - most importantly - he's an amazing guy. When we started working on 'Heavy Hand,' I was amazed with how quickly things came together. The first run-through of the song was near-perfect, and I couldn't hold back my excitement. I remember saying something like, 'Did you just pull that solo out of your ass?'  Dave said something like, 'I started humming melodies over the song, then I had a good idea of what I wanted to do on the guitar.'  It was all very surreal."

Check out the EP premiere HERE Also check out the premiere of their infectious first single “Heavy Hand” on Paste Magazine who called it “One of the catchiest debut singles from this year” HERE. And PopMatters’ premiere of “Everything Becomes Mechanical” HERE.

Blackout Balter’s roots can be traced back to 2014, when Cohen met drummer Chris Dorsey at a neighborhood block party. A mutual love of 70's underground rock led to an exchange of demos and within weeks, the two were in a studio working on songs that would eventually become Twist and Bend. They completed their lineup after finding keyboardist/guitarist/Ivy League grad Misha Kostandov and bassist Amelia Gormley, a Berklee College of Music grad and a founding member of the band New Highway Hymnal.

Blackout Balter is Philip Cohen (Vocals/Guitar), Chris Dorsey (Drums/Percussion), Amelia Gormley (Bass/Vocals) and Misha Kostandov (Keys/Guitar).

Pre-order Twist and Bend on iTunes, Google Play, or Amazon

Website

Facebook

Twitter

Instagram