Last year, Uniform teamed up with Boris for the collaborative album Bright New Disease. Today, the New York noise-rock duo announce their new LP American Standard and share the blistering lead single “This Is Not A Prayer.”

“Although our new record is best experienced as one cohesive piece, it isn’t exactly Dopesmoker,” vocalist Michael Berdan explained. He continued:

The songs on American Standard feed into an overarching narrative with the goal of retaining their own individual identities.

Existing in the netherworld between Public Image Ltd. and Butthole Surfers, “This Is Not A Prayer” best exemplifies the bludgeoning percussive interplay between dual drummers Michael Sharp and Michael Blume. Similar to bands like Swans or even Meshuggah, the guitar, bass, and vocals on this track act in complete service to what’s happening on the kits. The song is as purely rhythmic as we’ve ever dared to attempt, and we hope that these beats will take you where you need to go. Drums should serve as lead instruments in extreme music more often, but I digress…

Thematically, “This Is Not A Prayer” touches on the internal paradox that I’ve experienced while in the throes of an eating disorder. It’s about how the best I’ve ever felt about my physical appearance came when the people I love have told me that I look sick. Rather than taking their concerns to heart, I internalized these sentiments as proof that I was on the right track. I was not.

Founder and guitarist Ben Greenberg added, “When we started this record, Berdan told me: ‘I trust you to come up with a solid foundation for this, however you envision this thing. I want you to realize it completely, because I believe in you.’ So I wanted to write something overwhelming and all-encompassing for Berdan to lead his narrative through… because I trust and believe in him.”

Along with Michael Sharp returning to drums and longtime touring drummer Michael Blume joining for the LP, American Standard also has Interpol’s Brad Truax contributing bass. Berdan also invited revered horror authors B.R. Yeager and Maggie Siebert to help intensify the lyricism (Yeager’s Burn You The Fuck Alive and Siebert’s Bonding will give you nightmares). Hear “This Is Not A Prayer” below.

TRACKLIST:
01 “American Standard”
02 “This Is Not A Prayer”
03 “Clemency”
04 “Permanent Embrace”

TOUR DATES:
08/30 – New York City, NY @ Bowery Ballroom !
09/03 – Landers, CA @ Giant Rock
09/04 – Los Angeles, CA @ Zebulon #
09/05 – San Francisco, CA @ Thee Parkside #
09/06 – Eugene, OR @ John Henry’s #
09/07 – Seattle, WA @ Black Lodge #
09/08 – Portland, OR @ Mississippi Studios #

! with Poison Ruin & LEYA
# with World Peace

American Standard is out 8/23 on Sacred Bones.