Listen to The Bad Ends' (mems R.E.M. & Five Eight) "The Ballad of Satan's Bride"
The Bad Ends, the Athens, GA band that’s led by Five Eight‘s Mike Mantione and features drummer Bill Berry in his first group since leaving REM in the ’90s, will release their debut album, The Power and the Glory, on January 20 via New West (preorder). We’ve got the premiere of “The Ballad of Satan’s Bride,” an anxious rocker set to a wild drum pattern.
“‘The Ballad of Satan’s Bride’ was the first song we recorded together as a band,” says Manitone. “It has the worst villain in it of any song I’ve ever written. The song embodies total despair and tragic grief, yet I sang it with wild abandon over Bill’s soca beat pulsing at the heart as the song continues tearing itself apart. I could never have imagined the complex rhythm he played, but it instantly galvanized the arrangement. The version on the album was nearly ruined by my self doubt. About a year after we recorded it, I second guessed my vocals and re-recorded a more measured and thoughtful version to try and calm the song down. I sent the ‘new and improved’ song to the boys expecting praise and I got crickets. When I asked for a reply, they said that I had ruined the song with the ‘new and improved’ vocals! Needless to say, the original unhinged take was restored for the record.”
Bill Berry calls it “A juggernaut of rock, hardly a ballad.” You can listen to “The Ballad of Satan’s End” below.
The Bad Ends made their live debut in Athens just a couple weeks ago and have a couple more hometown dates ahead: an album release show at the famed 40 Watt Club on January 28 with Lo Talker, Pylon Reenactment Society, and A.D. Blanco; and then on February 18 at Variety Playhouse they’ll play with Drivin N Cryin (though Bill Berry will not be appearing at that date).
