On their fourth record, No Normal, out now via Bad Time Records, ska punk band Kill Lincoln thrive on intensity and catchy hooks and leans into relatable lyrics, a formula that can grip new and old listeners alike.
“Some of the feedback I’ve gotten from close friends. and people I trust, is that the way you sound on the record doesn’t necessarily reflect the intensity of your live shows,” says vocalist and guitarist Mike Sosinski. “I’ve been thinking about that for four years, so we tried to reflect it in the songwriting, and make the songs intentionally shorter and fast. Through the recording process, the way we tracked and the energy in the live room, getting everyone together for vocals, was (done) to get more of that fun and put that live experience into the record.”
Formed in 2007, Kill Lincoln spent years wading through the underground ska trenches of the late 2000s and 2010s before achieving a breakthrough moment with their 2020 album, Can’t Complain. Alongside their label Bad Time Records (also owned by Sosinski), the band and scene saw a huge boost in popularity from the album’s release, launching the band into a world of new opportunities. No Normal was recorded at District Recording in San Jose, CA by Ryan Perras, at the same location and exactly four years from when they recorded Can’t Complain, a record that the band had a lot of time to sit with. The record’s title No Normal references a period when Sosinski was adjusting to the “new normal” of daily life during and after the pandemic.
“I think there is no such thing as ‘normal,’ and that phrase popped up in my head because I was hearing ‘new normal’ so much,” he recounts. “It’s a play on words, but it also sums up this period between our last record and now.”
For Sosinski, the album also serves as a vessel for the artist’s anxieties throughout the pandemic period, illustrated by standout singles such as “All Worries” and “I’m Fine, I Lied.”
“I find myself saying ‘all good, no worries’ all the time. My brain is like, ‘What’s the opposite of that?’ All worries,” he says wryly. “When I was in songwriting mode, I woke up early in the morning — I don’t sleep very well— and I was pacing around my house and it just struck me, this feeling of wanting to be home and balancing that with wanting to get back into the world. It was me digging deep into that feeling of wanting to be comfortable where I’m at but also get out and experience things.”
Dripping with sarcasm and humor, all of the tracks on the album touch on topics ranging from existential dread to social anxiety.
“I’ve always been self-deprecating as a self-defense mechanism. I don’t think I consciously chose to do that. I think it’s my personality. If I say something bad about myself before someone else can, it takes the power out of it.”
Sosinski views being in a ska punk band for a long time as something that can make an individual build thick skin.
“You’ve heard all the insults and all the trash talk. I think you can internalize some of that and it comes out in my lyrics.”
The band is currently on tour, performing throughout North America supporting The Suicide Machines starting in August, making stops in Brooklyn and Las Vegas, and concluding in Florida in October. Sosinski is elated that the band secured the opportunity to perform alongside bands that they admire immensely.
“To get to play with them and for them to consider us friends is something we never thought would happen. If you told me 10 years ago that we would be doing shows with The Suicide Machines, I wouldn’t believe you.”
In October, the band will also perform alongside Less Than Jake starting in mid-October, a “bucket list accomplishment” for Sosinski.
“I feel so lucky that we have been getting these opportunities, which we never got before, pre-pandemic.” Sosinski doesn’t want to be “on the nose” about the album’s message, saying, “whatever fans get from it is valid. Everyone’s experience is different, so if there’s something that speaks to you, a certain song, that’s more important to me than what I would tell you to think about it.”
No Normal is out Friday and you can pre-order it from Bad Time Records. Follow Kill Lincoln on Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok for future updates.
Photo courtesy of Vince Sadonis
