The Deathset’s last release, Rad Warehouses, Bad Neighborhoods, was quite possibly the funnest 15 minutes of music put to disc in 07. It sounded just as the title would imply — quick, rabid, wild, electronic punk anthems made for bouncing off the basement walls of underground clubs. Well, at least it was the funnest 15 minutes of music until one fateful day, as I was minding my own business, jamming to The Deathset at my home away from home (also known as the cube) when a yellow jacket bit me on the elbow. Quickly, 15 minutes of fun became 15 minutes of pain. For months, this negative reinforcement kept me away from The Deathset.
Taking a cue, from the intro of The Death Set’s latest single, “Negative Thinking,” not only can a a bad attitude ruin your life, but it can also ruin a perfectly good record. Never again. I could be bitten by a rogue rattlesnake any moment now (it’s possible, Fox 8 news says so), and that wouldn’t be enough to keep me away a second time.
MP3: The Death Set – Negative Thinking
Youtube: The Death Set – Negative Thinking (Version 1)
Youtube: The Death Set – Negative Thinking (Version 2)
“Negative Thinking” was originally released on an earlier Death Set EP, but will also be included on the their first full length, Worldwide, due out April 22nd on the new Ninja Tune offshoot, Counter Records.
The Death Set
The Death Set Myspace
Photo by Tod Seelie
Turns out, when Yea Big and Kid Static aren’t kicking out glitchy, electro jams, or mashing up underground acts like the Mae Shi, they’re mixing beats about sandwiches. Usually, when rappers rhyme about food, they’re really talking about something else, like sex. If someone raps about making a sandwich on the dance floor, it has absolutely nothing to do with a loaf of rye and thinly sliced deli meats. However, when Yea Big and Kid Static rap “Eatchyo Samwich” I get the feeling these guys really do like eating samwiches. Sure, it’s also filled with meaty innuendo, but it’s secondary to the thrill of the mighty sammy. Be it a BLT, Hero, Tuna Melt, 24 inch party sub with peporoni and salami, or six slices of cheese stacked between two slices of white, they rock them all.
MP3: Yea Big and Kid Static – Eatchyo Samwich
The very limited edition Eatchyo Samwich 3″ cd single is available for preorder now (appropriately packaged in a sleeve resembling a piece of bread) from The F*ck Me Stupid Mountain Princess Recording Collective.
Yea Big and Kid Static
The FMSMPRC
It’s been often said of the Cleveland scene, that its unclassifiable, if not disjointed and slightly out of touch with mainstream, sound comes from the fact that it’s isolated from the major music markets. Just because something plays in LA or NYC, doesn’t mean it’ll play in this town. A similar conclusion can be drawn with Dunedin, New Zealand’s Die! Die! Die!. While most of today’s post-punk is all mopey and dopey, DDD, play post-punk the way it’s meant to be played– fractured, loud, and frantic. I’ve seen names like Wire, Black Flag and The Pixies tossed about in describing these guys, but I prefer one simple adjective: rad.
MP3: Die! Die! Die! – Sideways, Here We Come
MP3: Die! Die! Die! – Blue Skies
Bonus Cuts:
Youtube: Die! Die! Die! – Out of the Blue
MP3: Die! Die! Die! – Death to the Romantic (via PTW)
Promises Promises by Die! Die! Die! is due out this Tuesday on SAF Records.
