XPosed 4Heads ‘Crack the Sky’ with New Release

The Devo-inspired band has just released a new album and announced a Summerfest date as well as the debut of a new band with three of the 4Heads, Electricity Kills.

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Local Music

For a group that was dormant for decades, Milwaukee’s XPosed 4Heads have become surprisingly prolific. After regrouping in 2012, the Devo-inspired band has released a string of recordings, many of them accompanied by videos.

XPosed 4Heads has just released a new album and announced a Summerfest date as well as the debut of a new band with three of the 4Heads, a group called Electricity Kills.

The new 4Heads release, Crack the Sky, includes four new tracks and three that saw release as singles over the past year or so. “The world seems more up for singles lately, but we like the idea of a sequenced album,” says singer-lyricist-videographer Mark G.E. While previous albums featured sustained stories or concepts, Crack the Sky is a set of songs with sonic but not lyrical continuity.

Crack the Sky opens with a song that began as a feminist anthem about that old glass ceiling but took a more universal theme about daring to move forward (“pick the lock … jump the track … make a change”). “Virtual Love” considers the prospect of sex and romance with a robot instead of a real person. The titles of “Tricked Out Tailspin” and the album’s masterpiece, “Are We Crazy,” express an underlying … unease with the state of things. “Are We Crazy’s” telling line: “The wheel’s still turning but the hamster’s dead.”

Rock Star Moves

The new album “is rockier than anything we’ve done,” says bassist Tom Kornkven. “I’m playing bass like a lead guitar—I’ve got all the rock star moves.” G.E. and company deliver the sometimes sardonic, sometimes ironic words with humor and a stylized costumed performance on stage. “We will make it as visual as possible—an entertaining show,” G.E. says.

The songs are cowritten by some combination of G.E., Kornkven, keyboardist Kelp Chofs and guitarist Greg Barta. Andy Stilin drums and backing vocals are provided by the Star Girls, Theresa Ala Mode and Linda Strain.

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“We play off each other, call and response,” Kornkven says. “It’s a little like the Talking Heads,” G.E. adds. “We look for a pocket to play in. Not everybody is playing at once—there is dynamics and interplay. We’re always looking for memorable three-second hooks.” The formula has gained the 4Heads exposure on Sirius XM and Rodney on the ROQ; their videos have been seen at a dozen film festivals around the world.

Recently, Kornkven returned to guitar and teamed with two of the 4Heads, G.E. and Stilin, to form Electricity Kills with guitarist John Newcomb and bassist Russ Grabczyk. “I want to play hard and fast and short and snappy. Mark looked super surprised when I asked him to be the singer.” Kornkven contrasts Electricity Kills with the 4Heads. “We’re way more bluesy hard rock—in your face. My lyrics pull out that ‘meet the devil at the crossroads’ imagery.” G.E. cowrote several of the new band’s songs, “writing in a different style and with different themes,” he explains. The band members have long local roots with stints in Rock A Dials, Social Deviants, Mod Violets, Cyberchump and a host other groups.

Electricity Kills will open for Shadows of Taller Souls and Combustor on Saturday, May 24 at Linneman’s. XPosed 4Heads will perform at 5:30, Thursday, June 26 at Summerfest’s Uline Warehouse Stage. Their heroes, Devo, headlines the Uline stage that night.