These Guys Kill

In these troubled times, not even a touring noir-wave act from San Diego like Kill Me Tomorrow is safe from the watchful eyes of Homeland Security. “It was a little bit sketchy when we first came into Canada,” says singer-drummer-programmer Zack Wentz. The band was touring with fellow Californians Dance Disaster Movement, but they’d secured only one performing permit. “So Dan and K8 got in one van and pretended to be a band with all the gear, and I went in DDM’s van and we pretended to be tourists.”

That’s life on the road for Wentz, wife/bassist K8 Wince and guitarist Dan Wise, who since 1996 have pushed their apocalyptic post-punk soundscape, replete with songs full of tangential topics like rats, lawns and chocolate.

“I’m influenced to make lyrics from things I’ve been reading,” says Wentz. “I don’t drive, so I can read a few hundred pages a day if I’m on a roll in the van.” In fact, the name Kill Me Tomorrow comes from a book. “I used to have a big collection of old, smutty mystery novel covers,” says Wentz. “When we put out our first EP in ’97, we were desperate for a name, so we kept flipping through those covers until we narrowed it down.”

Kill Me Tomorrow churns out a murderous sound: manic percussion, abrasive guitar feedback and grinding bass lines, all on top of Wentz’s rambling lyrics. Their last offering was 2004’s The Garbageman and the Prostitute; now they’re promoting a new album they co-created with tourmates Dance Disaster Movement, which will be released on the indie ArtFag label. “We’ve kind of chopped the building blocks of the songs down,” says Wentz of his band’s new, “stranger” sonic direction, which features exotic flourishes like sitar samples. “It gave us an excuse to give it a shot, and go out together to support this record.” Even if that means ducking our terror-alert-loving border patrol just to play a show.