With every movement of American Standard (Sacred Bones), Uniform peels off a new layer and tells the story inside of the one that came before it.  It’s Uniform’s most intimate work to date, tackling themes of self-destruction with a particular focus on vocalist Michael Berdan’s lifelong struggle with bulimia nervosa. His lyrics sink into the core of the innermost self, the small human being crushed by sickness. His bandmates join him, applying majestic droning that becomes mechanical and omniscient. As the rhythms continually pulverize, Uniform gives themselves over to the grinding gears of an uncaring universe.

The thematic content behind American Standard can be divided into two distinct sections. While the A-side of the record deals with an individual who exists in a purgatorial state of physical and psychic crisis, the B-side serves to address how a lifetime of dealing with an eating disorder has impacted those around him.

“Permanent Embrace,” available today, is the album’s final statement. Berdan tells, “It touches on a facet of the disease that I’m incredibly wary of facing. Built on a narrative foundation laid out by author and lyrical collaborator Maggie Siebert, the song revolves around the idea of a person holding a loved one as an emotional hostage. Seeing perverse beauty in a story about a car crash, the narrator relates the analogy of two automobiles twisted together to that of his last-standing relationship. As he has broken down over time, so has the one who continues to stand by him. The object of his manipulative guilt trips remains locked in a hopeless situation, terrified of what he may do to himself if they were to finally leave.

The music reflects the psychic violence of the lyrics, as riffs and rhythms that wouldn’t feel out of place in the Unsane catalog careen into giant synth melodies before collapsing into itself. This is kind of our misguided interpretation of what Faith No More was doing on ‘Angel Dust’, and we hope that our tip of the hat to those masters of madness can hold a candle to their horrific splendor.”

Uniform Live Dates:

Aug 30: New York City, NY – Bowery Ballroom (Record Release Show) !
Sep 03: Landers, CA – Giant Rock 
Sep 04: Los Angeles, CA – Zebulon #
Sep 05: San Francisco, CA – Thee Parkside #
Sep 06: Eugene, OR – John Henry’s #
Sep 07: Seattle, WA – Black Lodge #
Sep 08: Portland, OR – Mississippi Studios #
Sep 09: Vancouver, BC – The Pearl #
Sep 10: Tacoma, WA – Elks Temple #

! w/ Poison Ruin and LEYA
# w/ World Peace