Two Canadians, a bass, a synthesizer, a drum set and lots of fist-pumping nonsense are the components of Death From Above 1979’s debut album “You’re a Woman, I’m a Machine.”
The Toronto duo of lead vocalist and drummer Jesse F. Keeler and bassist and keyboardist Sebastian Grainger have a sound reminiscent of Cake suffering from an enraged fit that would not go away, or a sleazier Queens of the Stone Age. The music gets moving and is relentless. There is no guitar either.
Be ready to hate Death From Above 1979 before you learn to love the band. The first song on the album, “Turn It Out,” starts with a few tranquil piano chords, then reverses into frightening screeches filled with distortion. Once the fear from hearing these piercing, synthesized screeches subsides, listeners are left with some of Grainger’s funky and intense bass riffs that will ready them to perform windmill kicks in the mosh pit.
The album’s most downloaded song according to iTunes, is the second track, “Romantic Rights,” and for good reason: It seems to be the most user-friendly song with bright beats and bouncy bass riffs. The song still retains all the sleaze in its lyrics – the tough part, though, is deciphering them through Keeler’s high-pitched, eerie vibrado.
The best display of Keeler’s vocality can be heard in the blood-curdling screams of “Pull Out.” The track is a fast-paced, chaotic message concerning the paradox of pushing in and pulling out.
Even though intensity and smut are not the most desirable traits for a band to have, DFA 1979 pulls it off with its obvious musical talent. The duo construct songs like a jigsaw puzzle with smooth transitions and breakdowns that leave listeners thinking all the vulgarity is simply for spice.
The band likes to keep the intensity up and propped uncomfortably in listener’s faces. When the rage from the day-to-day grind is too much, DFA 1979 is a great release to get heads banging and tennis shoes flailing high in the air.
