(Cobra Camanda) Beaten Awake will release their sophomore album, Thunder$troke, October 13, 2009 on Fat Possum.Thunder$troke is a lo-fi, alternately heavy and rocking, dreamy and rolling landscape of fuzzy bass, resonating drums, and guitars channeled through a late '70s Fender Super Reverb amp.
The members of Beaten Awake have been fixtures of the Kent, OH, music scene since the late '90s, playing in a number of bands that include Harriet The Spy, The Party of Helicopters, The Man I Fell In Love With, and "New" Terror Class. Thunder$troke - from the humming, melodic title track to the driving indie rock of "Gyro Quake" to the dreamy, ambling "Coming Home" - serves in many ways as a document of not only the music they're making at this time, but also of their continuing dedication to and pride in that musical community.
Thunder$troke was recorded over the past year in Akron, OH, with Patrick Carney (of The Black Keys) and Jeff France at Audio Eagle Studios and with Tim Gerak at the Woolly Mammoth Studios. The album follows their 2007 debut, Let's Get Simplified, which was released jointly by Carney's label, Audio Eagle, and Fat Possum, and a single, Coming Home, released by Fat Possum in May. Most recently the band toured with The Black Keys, Heartless Bastards, and Dax Riggs, and has opened for and played as the backing band of Daniel Johnston. Jon Finley (who also sings in Carney's new band, Drummer) and Ryan Brannon formed Beaten Awake in 2005.
Track listing for Thunder$troke:
1. Mr. Thompson (Can you dig it?)
2. Suite Cheetah
3. Thunder$troke
4. Gyro Quake
5. I'm Not Asking For The Moon
6. Coming Home
7. Danger Pins
8. (untitled)
9. Mr. Thompson
10. Halo V
11. I Shot The Mayor, Not The Deputy Mayor