Legendary DEAD KENNEDYS guitarist East Bay Ray, and vocalist SKiP McSkipster from the WYNONA RIDERS have formed an exciting new band, THE KILLER SMILES. Drummer Steve Wilson of TATU and bassists Greg Reeves of CORDOVAN, and who has recorded with numerous artists including Chuck Prophet and Counting Crows, round out the band.

The band is finishing up their 12 track album with the guidance of... [read more]

Legendary DEAD KENNEDYS guitarist East Bay Ray, and vocalist SKiP McSkipster from the WYNONA RIDERS have formed an exciting new band, THE KILLER SMILES. Drummer Steve Wilson of TATU and bassists Greg Reeves of CORDOVAN, and who has recorded with numerous artists including Chuck Prophet and Counting Crows, round out the band.

The band is finishing up their 12 track album with the guidance of producer (and BUTTHOLE SURFERS guitarist) PAUL LEARY, best known for producing SUBLIME’s self-titled break out CD and their single “Santeria.” The Killer Smiles have also already been invited to the international alternative music festival South by Southwest (SXSW) in Austin, Texas in March 2011.

For its members, the name Killer Smiles invokes images of wolves in sheep's clothing and silver-tongued phonies, those masks people wear to hide their true intentions and con others. Some of the songs deal with this kind of emotional fakery, “You’re Such A Fake,” “Raising the Stakes.” Other songs careen from frenetic post-punk, “It’s Broken,” to cinematically tinged guitar rock, “Area 51,” “The Heat Is Something.” The band takes a deliberate approach to let things be a little more human and less of a religious cult.

Always present is the distinctive guitar of East Bay Ray, who has penned some of the most recognizable and memorable guitar riffs to emerge from the West Coast punk movement, highlighted by the vocals of SKiP, plaintive one moment and full of old school attitude the next. Add to that the energetic feel of Greg Reeves with the driving beat of Steve Wilson, and you've got what promises to be a band to reckoned with.