Mike Krol

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Songwriters

Mike Krol

In bowling’s hallowed alleys, a strike is the minor miracle of all ten pins falling at once. Back-to-back strikes make a double. Do it a third time and you’ve got yourself a turkey.

History will decide which sports metaphor to apply to Mike Krol’s first two records, I Hate Jazz (2011) and Trust Fund (2013). But as needle meets groove on Turkey—Krol’s first record for Merge—there is no ambiguity. A shiny black ball tumbles past the suburban strip malls of a polyestered Wisconsin and veers precariously close to an East Coast gutter before gathering momentum in a physics-defying sprint for the Pacific. California is where the headpin falls—the right velocity, the perfect geometry, the bowler’s intent beautifully realized in a noisy moment of awesome destruction.

Mike Krol got his bike stolen and his heart broken. He bailed on graphic-design-as-career. He kept playing drums and guitars, and he kept writing songs about the stuff he hated and the stuff he loved. Leaving Milwaukee for Los Angeles, he took a few years’ worth of wrong turns. But when he showed up at a studio in Sacramento in March 2014, he had his affairs in order. Plug the vocal mic into a guitar amp. Plug the guitar into an overheating box of vacuum tubes. Put the computer in the closet. Roll the tape.

Releases

Mike Krol Power Chords

Power Chords
What's the Rhythm
An Ambulance
Little Drama
Left for Dead
Blue and Pink
I Wonder
Wasted Memory
Nothing to Yell About
Arrow in My Heart
The End

Mike Krol Mike Krol Is Never Dead: The First Two Records

Natural Disaster
Like a Star
Fifteen Minutes
Heart Attack
Seventeen (Age)
Grade School Love
Red Minivan
A Million Times
Plague
Cease and Desist
Modern Furniture
Locker
Teeth Grinder
Straaange
California
Fourth of July
Keith Moon
[untitled]
Drum Test (Bonus Track)
Kelly (Bonus Track)
Snow Day (Bonus Track
Natural Disaster (Demo) (Bonus Track)
Like a Star (Demo) (Bonus Track)
Fifteen Minutes (Demo) (Bonus Track)
Heart Attack (Demo) (Bonus Track)
Grade School Love (Demo) (Bonus Track)
A Million Times (Demo) (Bonus Track)
Fifteen Minutes Instrumental Reprise (Bonus Track)
My Country Tis of Thee (Bonus Track)
The Tempo (Bonus Track)
Plague (Demo) (Bonus Track)
Modern Furniture (Demo) (Bonus Track)
Locker (Demo) (Bonus Track)
Teeth Grinder (Demo) (Bonus Track)
Straaange (Demo) (Bonus Track)
I Got You (Chelsea) (Bonus Track)
[untitled track of Terre T reviewing I Hate Jazz on WFMU] (Bonus Track)

Mike Krol Turkey

Suburban Wasteland
Neighborhood Watch
Left Out
Save the Date
This Is the News
La La La Mike Krol
Cactuses
Less Than Together
Piano Shit

Mike Krol Trust Fund

Plague
Cease and Desist
Modern Furniture
Locker
Teeth Grinder
Straaange
California
Fourth of July
Keith Moon
[untitled]

Mike Krol I Hate Jazz

Natural Disaster
Like a Star
Fifteen Minutes
Heart Attack
Seventeen (Age)
Grade School Love
Red Minivan
A Million Times