Death From Above 1979 continue their mission to confuse drum and bass adherents across the globe with their debut UK album. Canadian duo Jesse F Keeler (bass) and Sebastian Grainger (drums) may look on paper like another wet dream for the music press (there’s only two of them! they live in a funeral parlour! they look cool!) but there’s plenty of substance to be found on ‘You’re a Woman, I’m a Machine’ to overcome the novelty factor.
If your familiar with either of their singles ‘Romantic Rights’ or ‘Blood on your Hands’ you will know what to expect from the other nine cuts served up here. The basic template is never strayed too far from and if the effects laden bass rumbles, thumping drums and odd electronic contributions floated your boat previously it is taken to it’s logical conclusion here. Each track is a bludgeoning slab of metallic noise in it’s own right, each and every one arrives to slap you round the head repeatedly before sodding off and making room for the next to attack you from a different angle.
As such trying to pick out individual highlights is virtually redundant but that is not too say it is too repetitive and at just over half an hour in length it is short enough not to outstay it’s welcome. This record bounces all round your room, drinks all your booze, throws up on your carpet and flicks the V’s at you as it leaves. Despite which the first thing you’re going to want to do is play it all over again such is the unrelenting ferocity of it. You’ll be revisiting it just to be sure that really is a bass they’re using there because the variety of sounds on offer defies the absence of six strings, you’ll also be returning as over time the less obvious tightly drilled funky element underneath all that distortion and feedback makes itself known. The slight variations in pace and the layers of sound that keep revealing themselves over repeated listening should ensure this album doesn’t stray too far from your CD player for months to come.
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Whether Death From Above 1979 will be able to sustain this pace and continue to find new avenues to destroy on such a limited set up remains to be seen. As for the here and now however you’re unlikely to hear such a raw, dumb / clever and exciting record for some time to come.
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