Photo by Chris Van Wick

Kane Hodder hijacked last night’s Schoolyard Heroes CD release show by (surprise!) releasing a collection of their own new material. The five song disc, Fly Comet Fly, is a long time coming—the band hasn’t released anything since the 2005 re-release of The Pleasure to Remain So Heartless.

The CD was available for free at last nights show, and the track-listing goes like this:

1. The Use of a Tourniquet is Not Advised
2. Kane Hodder Body Armor
3. St Augustine Was Bitter & Impotent
4. Eat Lead, Slackers
5. Hey Cortez, Ever Catch a Hurricane With Your Teeth?

My favorite thing about Kane Hodder’s music is that it’s unclassifiable. The band chaotically shifts from thrashing hardcore to bright pop within a single song. “Kane Hodder Body Armor” opens with hand clapping and whistling that reminds me of the opening credits to Disney’s Robin Hood. Singer Andrew Moore croons over the drums that start to speed up, the guitar twitters faster, and then the melody swirls into a storm of cookie-monster vocals and pulsating guitars before breaking down into a Copacabana-inspired breakdown of la las.

And that’s only one song. Kane Hodder are a mindfuck—but they’re interesting, and after a few listens, the songs start to make sense and they’ll get stuck in your head with just as much tenacity as any catchy Top 40 hit.

They played some of the new songs last night and the crowd (mostly there for the Birthday Massacre and Schoolyard) looked confused by the bands genre-stomping style, but they were fully engaged too. They just didn’t know if they should mosh or dance, jump or sway, sing or scream. By the end of the band’s set, they finally wrapped their teenage minds around the new sound, clapping along with Charley Potter’s booming bass drum and the bands anthemic gang vocals.

The CD will also be available (for free) this weekend (Saturday, Sept 22) at the Old Fire House when the band celebrates the beloved teen center’s 15th Anniversary with These Arms Are Snakes and Akimbo. You can also hear some of the new stuff at the band’s MySpace.