It's time for the drum and distorted bass duo explosion. Lightning Bolt showed the world it could be done with as much punishment as possible, Whirlwind Heat showed us how pretentiously lame it could sound, and Death From Above 1979 are here to show us how extremely dance metal it can sound. Read 'extremely dance metal' as 'as sexy as ugly can be.'
The Montreal duo's debut, You're a Woman, I'm a Machine, is a dance metal record -- don't let the strange man in the rusted car roll down his window and tell you any different. You'll hear the term noise rock thrown around, but this is not noise. This is song structure, metal riffage, and pop sensibilities. That's not saying a noise band can't have pop sensibilities (Sonic Youth, dudes!), but Death From Above 1979 never let the noise take over. It's loud; hell yeah it's loud. But it's always contained within a drum beat and a repetitive (please read 'repetitive' as 'really great') bass riff.
And that's the album's greatest strength: it's a riff-a-second ride. For anyone in need of something to gyrate and head bang to, here's your pink ticket. "Pull Out" is the dance-metal anthem of the century; it's the sound of band members Jesse F. Keeler and Sebastien Grainger dragging a hideously drunk bass riff kicking and screaming out of a second-rate strip club. Elsewhere, "Going Steady" punk-funks across the stage and you can picture Grainger actually cooing over a girl in the front row.
First single "Romantic Rights" and album closer "Sexy Results" both fall the closest toward the dance-punk single category. Geez, seriously, the more I listen to You're a Woman, I'm a Machine, the more I think this band is the culmination of two years of market focus research in the independent rock elite.
They've hit something big by creating a Yeah Yeah Yeahs meets Lightning Bolt romp minus the off-putting freak out of the new Liars album. These Montreal metal boys know exactly what they're doing and I really want to thank them for figuring out how to create such a danceable yet heavy album.
And may the next Radiohead record be just drum and distorted bass.
1. Turn It Out
2. Romantic Rights
3. Going Steady
4. Go Home, Get Down
5. Blood on Our Hands
6. Black History Month
7. Little Girl
8. Cold War
9. You're a Woman, I'm a Machine
10. Pull Out
11. Sexy Results