MY LIFE WITH THE THRILL KILL KULT
Strange Affairs Tour ’19
With- I: Scintilla and Conformco
DJ Greg Corner
Chop House Chicago
Thurs 11/7/19

And so the story of My Life With The Thrill Kill Kult continues, thank god.
Hailing from Chicago and now residing in LA, TKK has been up to this day still conjuring up sonic tales of sex, blasphemy and kitschy horror of a grand sort since 1987.
That Buzz and Franke still push the envelope in experimentation and sonic pursuits with racy B movie lyrics and still make it sound so fresh and clean is a blessing to us all.
Touring North America on the strength of their latest release- “In The House of Strange Affairs”, and ending the tour with two stops in the city of Chicago and Berwyn, Chicagoans were in for a treat for a double dose of Thrill Kill Kult, with wicked floor strobe lighting intact, Franke as cool  as all get out, Buzz decked out in a whit leather jacket manning the synths and samples, and Mami Sato as the cool queen of bass, and of course Justin Bennett providing all the necessary backbeats.
Spending the first of two nights with the members of TKK was incredible, like a happy go lucky reunion of sorts,
Groundbreaking in the early years, TKK was and still is one of the greatest Wax Trax! Records acts ever, and with “In The House Of Strange Affairs” just as relevant as ever, making fresh and dangerous music as anyone out there to this day.
Opening their set to “Strange Affairs”, from their new release, which sets the tone to dark and campy kitsch, and then continuing into “Neon Diva” and “Do You Fear (For Your Child)?”, what a perfect starting point, even for a Thursday night show.
Of course the main floor goes bonkers 6 songs in for “A Daisy Chain 4 Satan”, and it’s rambunctious tone and energy, let alone the upper register caterwaul wail sorely needed from Franke to give the song it’s renegade working power.
This song never gets old, still sounds so fresh and clean and dangerous as all get out, a staple at any TKK show bar none, along with “Sex on Wheels”.
Have to say TKK’s set was astoundingly cool and wicked fun.
Openers I: Scintilla provided that extra dark and sexy sinister wallop needed to stoke the fires of fun before TKK takes the stage.
Down to a three piece for this performance, their last for 2019, of course we had Brittany Bindrim on vocals, Jim Cookas on all things guitar, and of course Vincent Grech on drums and percussion.
As Jim so eloquently explained in a post on facebook prior to their performance: “We have once againdug deep into the Scintilla catalog and chose some fun tunes that have not been amplified in 6-10 years”, along with the debut of a new foot pedal to add to the instrumentation.
Have to say that even down to a three piece, Scintilla still killed it performing live, even with very little real estate to work with in regards to stage setup.
Openers Conformco pushed forth as well, adding extra fire power with the addition of Jesse Hunt on all manners of cool electronic percussion, and mainstays Sean Payne and Chris Harris brandishing their whirling dervish stylings to their take on industrial; music, along with Charles Levi coming out for a few songs towards the end of their set.
A splendid evening at Chop Shop Chicago, the first of two shows in the Chicagoland area.
Cheers- Bobby Talamine – Music Photographer