BLK JKS Assemble After Robots For Release

For once, an Afro-pop rock band will be releasing an album full of material which shows their depth of their musical roots. We have nothing against Vampire Weekend, Dirty Projectors, or Fool’s Gold, but BLK JKS is getting ready to release their full-length debut and we’re expecting it to be nothing less than phenomenal.

After playing SXSW, getting on the cover of FADER, and being signed to Secretly Canadian’s label, the BLK JKS are in full force as they bring their plethora of diverse credibility to the States. In fact, according to Reuters,  all four band members hightailed it out of Johannesburg for a while and relocated to Bloomington, Indiana to be closer to their label.

After releasing an EP, the band has some eager anticipation floating around for their full-length debut and it sounds like their own expectations are at the level of everyone else’s excitement. BLK JKS spent at least 10 hours a day for three weeks straight churning out what would eventually become their album, After Robots.

As reported in Reuters, guitarist Mpumi Mcata says: “I saw it as an exorcism… We’ve been growing in the five years we’ve been together up to this point, and recording was like trying to remember our past. We needed to get something out of us quickly.”

Secret Machines frontman, Brandon Curtis, served as the album’s producer and songs range from tribal chants to good ol’ indie rock standards. BLK JKS will be going on a full US tour to support After Robots. The album is slated for a September 9 release in the States.

How disappointed or happy will critics, including us, be after the release? Mcata adds, “”The album might be weird to some people, but you come to the show and see it come together… The album is the menu, and our show is the main course.”

BLK JKS, we’re excited for you to be on the road, too. Check the tour dates out below!

BLK JKS 2009 Tour Dates

09/08 New York, NY S.O.B.’s w/ Highlife & Janka Babay (ALBUM RELEASE SHOW)
09/18 Urbana, IL The Canopy Club—Pygmalion Festival
09/19 Madison, WI The Stage Door—Forward Music Festival
09/20 Chicago, IL Bottom Lounge
09/21 Chicago, IL The Hideout
09/22 Pontiac, MI The Pike Room
09/24 Minneapolis, MN Global Roots Festival
09/26 Bloomington, IN Lotus Festival
09/29 Washington, D.C. Black Cat