Look Out Below

Death From Above 1979 - You're a Woman, I'm a Machine

Death From Above 1979 (hereafter referred to as DFA) will probably always be one of my favorite bands.

Back when I heard them for the first time at the tender age of 14, punk to me was music that either a.) I wasn't cool enough for, or b.) was the terrible music in the background of Tony Hawk's Pro Skater. DFA, who I heard about on one of those MTV Underground 3-minute spotlights oddly enough, made me look at heavier music in a new way. Blood On Your Hands was the song that drew me in and held onto me like desperate cement. It was fast, it wasn't perfectly tuned, it had some anger (or angry noises) in it. Liking this band felt pretty cool, especially at a time when I was certainly not. This band is in a way is the driving force which pushed me off the path to Pussyville, and i'm not talking about a town where you get your dick wet a lot.

DFA is punky, yes, that much is clear, but it's also completely dancey if you pay close attention. Every song is as appropriate for moshing as it is for some grinding and groping that'd cause a friction burn. Not bad considering it's just a drum kit and one hell of bass setup. Sebastian Grainger makes his bass sing like 3 guitars at once, and Jesse Keeler's drumming is so precise at sometimes he sounds like, well, a machine. The songs are invariably about girls or sex, like your friend's daughter (and fucking her?) on Little Girl or your temptress of a boss in Sexy Results. It's not the angsty/political/serious punk that's ubiquitous now as it ever was, it's completely itself, and if wants to be dancy-sex punk, it sure as hell will be.

These crazy Canadians are reuinting for the first time in 5 years for Coachella this year, so I want you, the readers, to get a liking for them, because Coachella may be your last chance to see them. Ever. Maybe. Hopefully not.

-Thom