With a fresh new record just released and a headling tour hitting 13 new cities, Kill the Clock is soon going to be hard to miss. I was lucky enough to catch up with Dan McCormick (vocals/guitar), of Kill the Clock to talk about their new EP “Doll Motion,” and two-show tour kick off madness.
To start, if you are from the local Buffalo scene and didn’t attend either one of the tour kick-off shows, then you really missed out. With both shows boasting killer lineups, the first showcasing: Mallory Run (Edinboro, Pa.), Fernway (Buffalo), Kill the Clock (Buffalo), and the second: Fallow Land (Ann Arbor, Mich.), Super American (Buffalo), Kill the Clock, and Fernway. I obviously had to stay for both back to back shows, and I am so glad that I did because it was a night that I will not soon forget.
When I asked Dan from KTC how having two shows came about he told me, “We figured we’d try something different and do an early and a late show. We got Fernway to jump on both shows and assist in moving tickets. The first show sold out in about a week, which was super cool. It was our first pre-sale sellout ever.”
While the first show was sold out when I was there I was a little disappointed in the crowd because they were not as hyped up as they rightfully should have been. Don’t get me wrong, alone this still would have been a successful show. However, when put up against the second show, it paled in comparison.
The second show wasn’t even sold out but when I looked back as the second band of the night Super American took to the stage, the cozy Tonawanda venue Stamps the Bar, was already packed wall to wall. Then when Kill the Clock took the stage (KTC played third during the late show with Fernway headlining) the place went absolutely nuts. With fans singing along to songs off their new EP Doll Motion (that was just released two days prior) and a proper mosh pit taking place in front of the stage, I was so proud of not only the boys in KTC but also the Buffalo scene in general. Overall, these were two great shows and was a proper way to send Kill the Clock off on their biggest tour to date.
Like I said before, Kill the Clock just released a killer new EP “Doll Motion” on Jan. 2 to send them off on tour with a pocketful of new songs to play for their fans. This seven-song EP, clocking in at 19 minutes, features singles “Worry” and “Spaced-Out”, and is an absolute ripper.
When I asked Dan how this album came about he tells me, “‘Doll Motion’ was recorded at GCR Audio in downtown Buffalo with Jay Zubricky. This was the first record we did with him, and we were all very excited to get started and do something different. We all had different schedules to work around with school, and a lot of stuff in our personal lives come up to delay the process a bit, so it took us longer than expected to finish everything. We began recording in the first week of 2018, and didn’t have the entire record finished until September.”
As a fan of KTC, this was definitely a long painful wait, but just as they always do, KTC went far above my expectations with their new EP. However, longtime fans will notice that “Doll Motion” brings out a new, more aggressive side of Kill the Clock.
Dan touched on the subject of their new sound, he tells me, “I hope that listeners will see a different side to Kill The Clock with this new record, and see that we are much more capable writers than what we have done in the past. We all love the old stuff and are still very proud of it, I just think we all like to progress and not make the same sounding record every time. I think that we have progressed the most with Doll Motion. I hope listeners will agree with me in a positive way. If not, that’s cool too. Writing these songs with the guys made me really happy, and I love how they turned out. That’s what is most important to me.”
If you haven’t checked out Doll Motion yet then start off your new year right and give it a spin wherever you get your music. So until next time, get off the charts and support local music.
Chandler Poczciwinski is a student at St. Bonaventure University in Olean, production director at WSBU 88.3 The Buzz, and producer for punk music blog, The Uncharted Hour. He is also the lead guitar player for the local pop-punk band, Among The Wolves. He reviews music for All WNY Radio. 