Death From Above 1979

Death From Above 1979 was a bass/drum combo from Canada that broke up in 2006. I had only listened to them once before in high school, and i wasn't too impressed. in fact, i really didn't like it at all. The, about two summers ago, I read this in the note from the bassist, Jesse F. Keeler (who is currently in MSTRKRFT), telling of their split:

"we played our first show in a living room on long island for about 12 people and played our last in the calgary saddledome for 12,000. ha! what more could i have ever asked for?" (the whole note is humbling in itself - read it here)

after reading that, i bought the 2004 full-length, You're a Woman, I'm a Machine.



If you've heard a song of theirs, it is probably from this album. It was the one i first heard and didn't like. But that has changed. The songs on here are as polished as you can get while still being heavy. true, they can be repetitive and uninteresting (see Romantic Rights, Little Girl, and Sexy Results) but some songs offer a punch. the lyrics are for the most part, about sex in some form, and i think that is the appeal for some people. the drumming is fairly straightforward the whole time, but it's good. punchy. i would say that's how this band is as a whole - punchy and gritty.

now for the next piece:


This is the Heads Up EP. By far, my favorite of theirs. Six songs that will make you get up and want to do something - make music, beat someone up, or go clubbing. The sound quality is less polished as well; vocals are kinda of gritty, the drums are bigger, and the bass is grungy. This came out in 2002, when the band was still partially young. If you were to get anything from this band, it would be this. The bass riffs are potentially striking on this one. The drums are fairly simplified but go with the vocals overall. If i could see the band after this EP came out, say, at a house show, it would've been sick.

and finally:



Vinyl, anyone? The Romantic Rights EP came out in 2004, as a precursor to the full-length. It has four (though techinally three) songs on it. The two hits, a rare one, and a remix of a hit. The rare song is sweet. And it's got the best version of "Pull Out" in my opinion. it's worth having for collector's sake.


Well, that's my brief history with DFA1979. and here are selected songs from three records.

Going Steady - Death From Above 1979

this is one of the shorter songs from the full-length. when the bass goes higher to accomodate the vocals, it's great.

Do It! - Death From Above

check the vocoder in the middle. and the drums right after it.

We Dont Sleep At Night - Death From Above 1979

this is that rare song. fairly short, and i like the vocal pattern.

evaluation.

i guess i can keep apologizing for the lack of posting.

i've been looking through the posts and trying to see at what i was getting at with them. they all seem to be more reviews than anything. and i'm getting bored with that. the idea i would like to run with right now is trying to tell the story behind each band that i am listening to or what book i am reading - sort of a history book of each.

i think i will run with this because:

a) the postings would be more worthwhile to read and more well-written than just a review.

b) i'm not really the type of listener to look past the music/lyrics/written words and research what the songs/stories/books are about or what the musicians/authors was going through at the time or how exacty they compare to other works of theirs.

c) there is a reason each person listens to or reads the things they do. it defines who they are. honestly. who am i without these things? that is what i need to get across.