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

There's an old jazz saying that goes "There's some folks, if they don't know, you just can't tell 'em." There's a certain instinctual nature to music, and while there are plenty of acts I could probably build a case for an explain the appeal, DFA is simply not one of them. You're either on board, or you're left behind. And there's no shame in that, but it definitely speaks to your tastes. I guess, in embracing this album, I surrender my right to joke about dubstep, because this album's appeal is a lot like that subgenre's - hard to "get" from the outside, but ravenously consumed by those who are "in" on it. Even today in my store, people will grin and rub their hands when they think about this album.

Death From Above's landmark 2004 release is everything that frightens people about music. It obeys nothing but its own wild impulses, grooving, crashing, bashing, squealing and yowling with complete disregard for who might be listening. This is a high water mark for raucous, noisy, abrasive, disruptive, unpretty music. When you record something like this you take a huge risk, because it throws so many conventions in the garbage. It speaks to an audience that feels like there's nothing loud enough for them, nothing messy enough, nothing freaky enough, nothing elemental enough. It isn't punk, although its very existence is an act of punkish rebellion. It isn't metal, but it's certainly metallic in its hardness and heaviness and disregard for humanity. It isn't electronic, but it's definitely mechanical... if a bit haywire.

Here in fuzz and feedback and megaphoned larynx-testing vocals, is the continuation of the work that Iggy and the Stooges began once upon a time: hard, heavy, fast, repetitive, basic, sense-overloading, unsafe. Bombastic and uncontrollable from the get-go. This is the thread that was later picked up on the first Sleigh Bells album. This is music for young motherfuckers who are sick of being told what a song is supposed to be like.

Is it totally impenetrable? Not at all. Just because it goes for the rough edges doesn't mean it's without rhythm and melody. To my ears this is most definitely music. Those that get it get it, and nobody else needs to.

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