Two Toronto boys with cute hair have forgone the guitar to bring you hard, fast drums, sexy bass lines and wailing vocals. They're lumped into the group of impressive bands coming from up north, such as the Arcade Fire, and controller.controller, with whom they are now touring. Jesse Keeler (bass, vocals) and Sebastian Grainger (drums, vocals) - the guys behind Death From Above 1979 - are also often compared to that other drums-and-bass-only band, Lightning Bolt, and it's true that both bands are a shining example of every indie rock darling's favorite new genre: noise punk.
Of course, new is a relative term, but along with previously established bands like Wolf Eyes, Blood Brothers and the Locust, noise bands are getting signed to bigger labels (ranging from Sub Pop to Atlantic) and releasing successful albums. The thing is, along with the aforementioned bands, DFA1979 are more than just a couple of guys trying to bridge the gap between Fugazi and Sonic Youth. DFA1979 is two talented, slightly eccentric young musicians and together they are one of the greatest live acts around these days. Impressively, they've managed to translate the terror, the sex, the love and the fury of their shows to their bright pink album: You're A Woman, I'm A Machine, released in October 2004 on Vice/Atlantic Records.
Are they derivative? Probably. Are they sometimes repetitive? Well, yes. But, this is effective music - it is evocative, emotional, ear-shattering, and other adjectives starting with the letter 'E.' You're A Woman, I'm A Machine features tracks that are alternately danceable ("You're A Woman, I'm A Machine"), witty ("Pull Out, Sexy Results"), socially conscious ("Black History Month"), but always well-crafted and impossible to ignore.
I had the chance to embarrass myself by asking Sebastian Grainger a few ridiculous questions:
News-Letter: What is the best live show you've ever seen? Where? Why? How!?
Sebastian Grainger: The first time I saw a band called Tricky Woo from Montreal in Canada. The reason I love them is because their live show sort of made up for three decades of rock music I had missed, being born when I was - it was like I was seeing The Who and Led Zeppelin. The first time I saw them was the best show I'd seen in my life. And the first time I saw The Dears play, which is another band from Montreal, it was at a bar in Toronto with, like, 20 other people. It was really desperate and that's what I liked about it.
N-L: What was the first album that you went out and bought?
SG: That's really hard, because when you're young the lines are blurred between what you own and what your siblings own and what your parents own. I'd like to say it's something really cool, but I don't know if that's true. This is shameless because I don't have any "guilty pleasures" but I think it was Cats by Andrew Lloyd Weber. I used to conduct it in my living room. As a young adult I got really into Jesus Christ Superstar, and I don't think that was a coincidence.
N-L: What's the worst band name you can think of?
SG: White Power. When we were considering changing our name [DFA1979 used to be DFA, and got sued by the New York production of the same name] we thought of changing it to White Lightning, but that sounded too racial. [Laughs.] And we're gonna just rip off Lightning Bolt on our next album. Actually, the next album is just gonna be rip offs of other two-piece bands. Yeah-being a two-piece band. We think about it all the time. We're really obsessed with it and we talk about it all the time. Every day.
N-L: Are you planning to do some more recording anytime soon?
SG: Jesse and Al, the guys we record with, are in the process of building a commercial recording studio in Toronto. We're gonna be the inaugural band. We'll start recording and writing in June. We haven't really been writing, just having conversations and stuff - nothing too productive. There's nothing creative about what we're doing right now. Music is supposed to be creative. Well, a lot of people have no problem with doing things over and over again, but we're not into that.
N-L: A lot of people reading this may have just heard of you. Why should you be their new favorite band?
SG: We shouldn't be. Having a favorite band sucks. No, that's not true. It's fine for children, and I guess a lot of children like us. We're a real cool underground band and listening to us will make other people like you. And it'll make your parents like you more too - we are in a lot of major publications such as Time and Playboy. So, it's something that your parents will appreciate on an intellectual level.
So, that's DFA 1979. You should go to one of their shows because, well, every once and a while they break out the cowbell. And we could all use more cowbell.
DFA1979 is playing the Ottobar on April 27. For tickets visit www.theottobar.com and for more info, check out their MySpace page at http://www.myspace.com/deathfromabove1979.
