KIRA Presents Her “Haunting” New Video for “The Ghosts”
“She was as tough as any of us and could stand up to anything.”
– Henry Rollins, former Black Flag bandmate
“Kira Roessler is something of a legend — she was in Black Flag during their heyday, playing on four full-lengths and at countless live shows during her two-plus years in the band, one of the few women in the early hardcore scene.” – Stereogum
“Legendary.” – NPRFormer
Black Flag/dos Bassist
KIRA
Releases Video for Her “Wiry and Potent” (Stereogum) New Single “The Ghosts”
Her Dark Minimalistic Self-titled Solo Debut
Will be Released Oct. 19th via Kitten Robot Records
SEPTEMBER 30, 2021 (Los Angeles, CA) — The release of Kira‘s first single “The Ghosts” on September 15th was greeted with plaudits from across the rock spectrum. Taken from her upcoming self-titled debut album (released date: October 19, 2021via Kitten Robot), the track’s accompanying video was premiered by Brooklyn Vegan who reports the video “finds Kira playing it alone in an eerie, candle-lit room (with matching blue hair and bass). Her bass playing is as knotty as it is on those later Black Flag albums, but her singing has a haunting, ethereal dream pop vibe, and it’s great to hear this side of her.”
Upon release, “The Ghosts” has been praised throughout the media. Stereogum called it “wiry and potent,” while Metal Riot comments that it’s “incredibly refreshing and layered, an uncompromising artist’s pure vision that hurdles genres to capture personal horizons.” MXDWN breaks it down even further, heralding “Roessler really makes space for her voice and instrument in the track, layering the instruments one hears in a way that allows her vocals to really shine through, giving her space to explore her own artistry on another level than she could within a band.”
As a member of numerous West Coast hardcore and punk bands including Black Flag and dos (with Mike Watt), Kira’s artistically-crafted basslines were the anchor to the chaos that swirled around her. On her new album which she and her brother Paul Roessler (TSOL, Josie Cotton, Richie Ramone) co-produced, however, she turns down the volume and turns up the intensity, highlighting not only the gorgeously constructed bass rhythms but also her vocals which act as an ethereal foil. From the meditative opening track “Silently” acting as a winsome entry point to her debut album, to the fascinating focus on a quiet metallic breakdown of “Trance,” to the surging restraint of the closing track “In the Quiet”, Kira captures the stark sparseness of her vision, empowering the notes to meander and explore. The first single/video “The Ghosts” is a perfect example of that, really allowing her bass to shine. Layered and airy, the track creates a wide open sonic expanse for her vocals to echo and resonate.
A fixture in the early hardcore and punk scene, Kira helped shaped the sound to such influential bands as Waxx, the Visitors, Geza X and the Mommymen, the Monsters, Sexsick, Twisted Roots, Black Flag and dos. Black Flag frontman Henry Rollins has said of Kira, “She was a mere slip of a woman, but physical size really didn’t matter. She was in one of the most ferocious bands at the peak of violence in that scene in the ’80s.” Following her tenure with Black Flag and UCLA, she formed dos with Mike Watt.
In addition to her musical resume, Kira has received two Emmys and was part of the team that won an Oscar for Mad Max: Fury Road. Her screen impact includes Joker, A Star is Born (2018), and Game of Thrones Season 2 to name a few.
Kira was produced by Kira and Paul Roessler (TSOL, Josie Cotton, Richie Ramone) and will be released on October 19, 2021 viaKitten Robot Records.
ABOUT KITTEN ROBOT RECORDS
Kitten Robot Records was founded in 2019 by recording artist Josie Cotton and record producer Paul Roessler. The boutique label was launched to provide a home for all of Cotton’s releases dating back to her first LP Convertible Music. In addition to Cotton’s own catalog, Kitten Robot has also become a hotspot for new music produced at Kitten Robot Studio, including CrowJane, Tombstones In Their Eyes, Harry Cloud, Kira and Inger Lorre. As the label continues to expand, the artist family has grown to include Eddie Spaghetti and Frank Meyer, Dark Mark and Skeleton Joe, Hayley and the Crushers, Glitter Wizard, Candy Whips and Velvet Starlings.
KIRA
Tracklisting
Silently
Avoiding
Trance
Worse Than Rude
Unsolicited Advice
Let It Go
The Ghosts
It Can’t Be
What’s Left
In The Quiet