Kill The Lights Travel West, And Travel Lighter

Alex Hackett is risking his neck to bring you rock music, and he knows it. He and his fellow post-punk firebrands in Kill The Lights are travelling through the frostbitten reaches of the Canadian west in the middle of a miserable winter across our nation's highways to bring their jagged music to the people.

"The only other time we toured out west was with K-OS, so that was guaranteed crowds of thousands of people at every show," says Hackett.

If the attendees from their tour with the Juno-collecting beardo return, they may notice something different about Kill The Lights.

"If you're going to the show to see Steph [Hanna], it's possible you'll be disappointed," offers the singer on the recent departure of the band's now ex-keyboardist/vocalist.

Hanna's exit is so fresh that the band's bio only features a mini-note preceding it informing the reader to sub out "four men and one woman" and replace it with "four men and no women."

"It was a pretty traumatic fall season for us, and for whatever reason she decided to call it quits," says Hackett. "It was pretty unexpected."

The recent group revamp has already caused a notable change in perception, according to Hackett.

"One of our fans was saying [of the new lineup] that it was much more male — the classic four guys in a rock band thing. We're still discussing if we want someone to replace [Hanna]. We'll just audition some people and try to figure it out."

A decision on reconfiguring the lineup may come soon, as prep work on the new album begins at the end of the current western adventure. Anticipation for the new record is palpable, as Spin magazine shat a grab bag of bricks about the band (naming them "Artist Of The Day" on its website and writing a gooey mash note about their exploits at Pop Montreal) and word-of-mouth buzz has ramped up after a collection of world-beating festival appearances. Fans attending this week's shows might hear a new track or two, as the new car smell of playing songs off their last record has worn off a bit.

"To be honest, at most of our shows in the last six months we've played mostly non-album tracks," says Hackett. "All the songs on Buffalo Of Love are about three years old, so we're pretty sick of 'em."

If Kill The Lights aren't in an auto wreck, you can catch them here:

Feb. 20 Victoria, BC @ Logan's Pub w/Geronimo
Feb. 21 Vancouver, BC @ Media Club w/Geronimo
Feb. 23 Winnipeg, MB @ The Zoo w/Geronimo
Feb. 24 Winnipeg, MB @ Music Trader (in-store appearance)