Having spent the better part of the past 3 years on the road, Die! Die! Die! want to make your head, heart, and soul their home.
The band traveled to Chicago two years ago to cut their first self-titled release with some guy in a brick basement(responsible to some of the greatest records of all time). Needless to say, this record sent the trio on a whirlwind series of countless tours (supporting: blood brothers, wire, slint, wolfmother etc) and gained them considerable world wide notoriety which no band from their native Dunedin, New Zealand had seen since the Dunedin sound hey day of the 80’s.
In August Die! Die! Die! recorded their new album Promises, Promises with New Zealand's greatest song writer Shayne Carter producing and engineered by Kevin Mcmahon in Upstate New York in the walkmen's studio Marcata. Reminiscent of the spirit and sounds of Black Flag, The Pixies, the Wipers, Wire, and Bailterspace Die! Die! Die! deliver an unfiltered and powerful stage show. Their relentless tour schedule and onstage antics have earned them a reputation as one of the most energetic and hardest working bands around.
Shows for Die! Die! Die! go on with fearless and confident delivery. In a wild fit, guitarist/vocalist Andrew Wilson occasionally removes his guitar (with microphone in hand) to enter the crowd. This is a most effective way of dissolving the invisible crowd/performer boundary. Drummer, Michael Prain, and bassist Lachlan Anderson keep pummeling rhythms flowing, without missing a beat.
The trio embodies a vitality that has long since made its way into the recent rock and punk circuits. They aren’t a rehearsed set of messages or stage antics, no glitter, no make-up, no phony sass.
Cutting to the quick, their songs and live delivery are nothing short of awe-inspiring. These three are on the forefront of a new revolution. Without the aid of gimmicks or pretense, Die! Die! Die! aim to appeal to all walks of life without alienating ANYONE!
Cathartic, direct, indispensable….. You will know them as Die! Die! Die!
PRESS:
Alternative Press
Disregarding the useless instrumental opener, Die! Die! Die!'s self-titled debut is a gem, jam-packed with nine tracks of urgent garage- and post-punk coupled with hip-shaking rhythms, beginning with the one-two punch of "Disappear Here" and "Franz (17 Die! Die! Die! Fans Can't Be Wrong)." But don't be mistaken-not every song sounds alike. The New Zealand-based trio retain that underlying edgy rock 'n' roll vibe throughout, but they also switch up the tones of each song. For instance, they slow down the tempo on "Auckland Is Burning" and "'Out Of The Blue'" without losing any intensity, and add to the frenetic factor with the stomping "Ashtray! Ashtray!" which features a claustrophobic, descent-into-madness feel. Meanwhile, "L.A. Bones," which starts with spurts of chaotic instrumentation and feral vocals before turning somewhat more placid, is juxtaposed nicely with the ensuing standout "Shyness Will Get You Nowhere," perhaps the album's most "serene" number, awash with an indescribable power and beauty.
SPIN
If the name didn't tip you off, Die! Die! Die! have little patience for pop concessions. Abrasive and bare-bones, the band makes a lot out of a little -- in love with a loud/soft dynamic, their eardrum-rattling clatter recalls the rollicking franticness of the Liars and the nervous jerkiness of Hot Hot Heat. Wilson sounds like he's off screaming in a room by himself, and when the rhythm section locks in a groove behind him on "Auckland is Burning" -- whilst Wilson stammers repeatedly, "I've never told the truth, how could I tell a lie?" -- the result is mind-numbingly satisfying.
CMJ
This trio has called Dundedin and Auckland their home but are in actual fact more like confrontational musical nomads plying a situationist international inspired lifestyle and calling it a band. The fact that they can make a simply brilliant noise along the way has been duly noted by fans around the world
Skyscraper Magazine
DDD smash head on the decidedly British post-punk of Wire into the snotty anger of American hardcore act Black Flag, bringing forth an exciting punk fusion from the other land down under
Big Takeover
This hit the player and eye's shot up! Totally in your face, like they're playing vaccum cleaners, and their vicious, spare, distorto-punding and vocals are hair rasing like a splatter film
Sentimentalist
Willful dissonance is often the terrain of effete art rockers, but Die! Die! Die! pull it off with cool aplomb, recalling the abrasive hypnotism of mid career Sonic Youth and the noisy vigor of Jesus Lizard.Ý The band manages to stay controlled throughout, leveraging steady structures that veer clear of pure noise or ambiguous incomprehensibility.Ý These New Zealanders put their penchants for landing half a step away from conventionality into repetition, pushing their dissonance towards some flat-lining, broken pop.
Pastepunk
Originally recorded here in the States in 2005 with Steve Albini, the debut record from New Zealand's DIE! DIE! DIE! is finally seeing a North American release from artsy label S.A.F. As the album's artwork would suggest, DIE! DIE! DIE! keeps things incredibly simple and to-the-point in their bass-heavy punk tunes. With a post-hardcore edge permeating throughout the album's duration, there is just enough substance here to warrant the band the accolades they have received from foreign press. A surprising listen.
Suburban Horror
If Die! Die! Die! is the future of rock then there is nothing to worry about. These boys from New Zealand know how to destroy and deconstruct noise and turn it into refined musical art. On their self-titled release, Die! Die! Die! shreds the opposition creating a clashing cacophony that perfectly channels rage and frustration into music, but at the same time, the music remains pleasant to the ears. "Yeah Nine Yeah"- which oddly is the seventh track on the album, go figure - has the raw sound of a garage band recording, complete with strained vocals that blend in with the background of drums, guitar, and bass. However, unlike a fledgling band that is recording in a home-made sound proofed garage, Die!Die!Die! adds complex guitar solos that are fueled by fury. The self-titled album captures manic energy of a live performance.
But, where other live albums sound like you are listening to just that - a recording of a live performance - listening to the album makes you feel like you are standing right in front of the stage, banging your head along with the sound. The title of "Franz (17 Die! Die! Die! Fans Can't Be Wrong)" says it all: if 17 of their fans love this song, then so should you. The track is full of anger and spite toward an unknown force, and it is done so well that the music is sure to seep through your ears and through your veins, pumping you full of that noise rock that only Die! Die! Die! can deliver.
Exclaim!
This first full-length from New Zealand’s Die! Die! Die! is a shattered, angular masterpiece of animal instincts and serrated edges. Frenzied energy bleeds out of each song as the album churns and whirls so fast you can almost smell the sweat that went into making it. With Die! Die! Die!, art punk sensibilities melt into tinges of thrash while recalling scuffed up garage punk aesthetics. The result is something driven and dour, full of a startling brutality that is seductively aggressive and expressive all at once. One of the more striking tracks is “Shyness Will Get You Nowhere,” which starts out as a ballad then implodes into a fragmented, jilted ride. The unpredictability factor is part of Die! Die! Die!’s appeal and there is no shortage of it here. Spastic and flailing, this full-length grips tight and doesn’t let go, letting every jerk and shove sink in just long enough to leave a mark.
Chord Magazine
After waiting through a minute of useless noise on Die! Die! Die!'s opening instrumental number, the listener is greeted by nine tracks of hyper "dance-punk," as I suppose some will deem it. The band's sound is filled with both groovy, hip-shaking rhythms and gritty, urgent, minimalist punk rock/post-punk, beginning with the one-two punch of "Disappear Here" and "Franz (17 Die! Die! Die! Fans Can't Be Wrong)," the latter titled as charmingly quirky as the band sounds. That's not to say every song sounds the same: The Dunedin, New Zealand-based trio manages to keep that dance-y/edgy/sweaty rock 'n' roll vibe throughout the album, but also switches up the songs' tones. To wit, the guys slow down the tempo a bit on "Auckland Is Burning" and "'Out of the Blue'" without losing any intensity, and add to the frenetic factor with the stomping "Ashtray! Ashtray!," which has a somewhat claustrophobic descent-into-madness feel. "L.A. Bones," which begins with spurts of chaotic instrumentation and feral vocals before turning more placid only to end on a rather crazed note, is juxtaposed with "Shyness Will Get You Nowhere," perhaps the album's best, most "serene" number, full of an indescribable power and beauty.
Treble Zine
New Zealand's Die! Die! Die! has a thing for emphatic Chk Chk Chk (!!!) punctuation•the name, more exclamation points in three song titles•which is funny since they've got the sort of hair-trigger punk theory that requires basically zero overselling. Their self-titled debut is all bulbous ribs and threadbare tenacity and clocks in at just less than 28 minutes, every one of them gutted by songs that shimmer like skeletal bonfires. I ate it up like hardcore candy. Twenty more songs and I still would have begged for more.
It's a heated, ripped-up, silly, fantastic party record. It may not move in mysterious ways, but it's all right. Trip-wired with punk contortions, songs like "Franz" and "Shyness Will Get You Nowhere" nevertheless break the right direction toward guarded but zealous pop mechanism. With its banging in-out shuffle and Andrew Wilson's repetitive screech "what you say goes, what you say goes," "Franz" sounds for all the world like Joy Division's "Digital." "Shyness" in its initial moments spikes itself with gleaming pieces of chime-like guitar that recall the keyboard effect on the Strokes' 12:51•not that it stays there long, the drums keep up a needle-sharp stomp and the chorus is a frenzied, full-throated guitar assault.
Parenthetically, the full title of "Franz" is "Franz (17 Die! Die! Die! Fans Can't Be Wrong)." There are also tracks called "Like 48th Street Maybe?", the opener, which is one minute long and may or may not be about GPS Girl, who's never exactly sure where she is (there's no way to tell, since it's 98 percent drums and there are no lyrics, but humor me); "Year Nine, Yeah!"; and "Ashtray! Ashtray!", in which Wilson actually yells "Ashtray! Ashtray!" On "Auckland Is Burning," meanwhile, Wilson assures us he's only funnin': "I never tell the truth." Easy come...
KQED
New Zealand is a major exporter of agriculture and horticulture. You know, lots of macro terms like that. Add Die! Die! Die! to that list. This youthful trio plays with infectious exuberance on its self-titled debut, and its members aren’t afraid to push music that sounds damaged, yet endearing. Guitars sound discordant and fulminating one moment, caffeinated and angular the next. They’re prodded along by bounding basslines and massive drums captured perfectly by famed producer Steve Albini. The final piece of the puzzle is a vocalist who comes off like a wild-eyed, pill-popping freak. Often, the music is manic. “Year Nine, Yeah!” is what a speed freak with a stuttering problem might sound like. Other times it settles into something even more ingratiating. “Ashtray! Ashtray!” (are you noticing how all the exclamation points are adding to the excitement?) is probably the most danceable distortion ever.
Open Your Eyes
With a name like Die! Die! Die!, you would be forgiven for thinking you’d be hit with a heavy metal barrage when you pressed play. That is off course unless you saw the picture above and dismissed them as a bunch of harmless kids. Well as it turns out, they’re somewhere in the middle. You definitely are confronted with a mass of noise when they start playing but it is never too much and always guided by a clever, underlying melody. And while they may just be young, these guys are serious about making music. Forming in just 2003, they have thrust themselves upon the world with a seemingly non-stop touring schedule and emerged with a global fanbase. Hailing from New Zealand, we have naturally claimed them as our own and I’m sure when they return to our shores, Australian audiences will be rocking out to them just as hard as any. I haven’t seem them myself, so can’t talk from experience, but you can bet it will be loud and it will be intense.
Smother
Despite their utterly inane moniker, New Zealand imports Die! Die! Die! make it all up to you within the first song or two. Art-punk garage-loud and dancehall beats greets the ear as the tortured vocals wail on and on about fuck all. Smart concise songwriting skips the nonsense and drives home the point with angular guitars and visceral vocals shaping up their sound. For fans of Franz Ferdinand and of course anything that Steve Albini has also recorded.
AMG
Auckland, New Zealand noise-punks Die! Die! Die! are nowhere near as violently abrasive as their name implies. Indeed, they may well not even be as violently abrasive as they might think they are. A brief album (its ten songs barely reach 25 minutes all told) with nary a wasted note, Die Die Die takes as its starting points the no wave skronk of assaultive late-'70s acts like Mars and DNA, as well as the lyrically and musically aggressive stance of those bands' logical culmination. (Naturally, Big Black's Steve Albini engineered this album, and it has the raw, exciting, live in a room feeling of all of his best work.) However, the other side of the trio's musical personality is expressed in bassist Michael Prain and drummer Henry Oliver, who are possibly the most ultra-tight rhythm section in all of indie rock at this moment. Therefore, singer and guitarist Andrew Wilson's sore-throat yelps and scratchy metal-edged guitar aren't matched by an equally raw and undisciplined rhythm section, but by a bassist and drummer specializing in the kind of rubbery aggro-funk first popularized by the likes of Gang of Four and the Au Pairs. So by taking equally from two diametrically opposed musical forces, Die! Die! Die! end up with a sound that's initially abrasive but ultimately surprisingly easy to enjoy.
NME
Recording an entire album in two day's is never going to result in a carefully polished collection of MOR radio anthems. D!D!D! thread that tightrope of punk cool and rock insanity so easily that Steve Albini decided to take the helm of this debut. Budget doesn't always mean crap. Used courtesy of Pet Piranha
NZ Musician
In a city where crowds sit back and watch bands with apathy aplomb, Die!Die!Die! stand out as one of the few that can get an Auckland audience moving. Here, famed producer Steve Albini captures the essence of Die!Die!Die! live, allowing them to sound like the noisy, brittle, scratchy and utterly engaging band they are in the flesh. -Used courtesy of New Zealand Musician via Capital Recordings
Real Groove
And every Die! Die! Die! show is a good one. Even when they're broken and messy and chaotic the pure passion and energy they communicate never fails to engage. So you'd think it would've been a hard task for them to recapture that on their untitled album, eh? But when you've got the High Priest of indie rock, Steve Albini (Rapeman, Big Black, Shellac) helming the recording and mixing process at his famed Electric Audio studio in Chicago, you'd be hard pressed to go wrong. -Used courtesy of Real Groove via Capital Recordings
Rip It Up
These tracks are served with the burnt crusts still on, but so are their live shows. Get along to one, and see why that's a good thing."Narelle JacksonUsed courtesy of Rip It Up via Capital Recordings
Pavement
I always make the assumption that a band like this, who are really full-on live, are going to sound a bit weak on CD. It's hard to capture the ear-splitting feeling you get at 1000db. But that's not the case with this Auckland three-piece. Even coming out of a stereo, these guys sound just like they do at a show. Not only that, but they have come up with the best bass sound in the business..."Peter HenryUsec courtesy of Pavement via Capital Recordings.
Kerrang
So here's an example of how to this 'playing music' thing, right. have a name apparently by the speech bubble of cartoon kamikaze pilot. Approach your live shows like a crack squad of soviet olympic gymnasts. Oh and write songs like 155. Used courtesy of Pet Piranha
Plan B
Play this record to really f***ing appreciate your own dull ache, to wallow in the disaster of your own creating- and secretly enjoy every last wail. Used courtesy of Pet Piranha
Rolling Stone(Australia)
A smart band whose brutal(though wonderfully danceable) beatsand subtl yet enduring melodies push them above the post-punk crap
Artrocker
Recorded in two day's with Steve Albini, this album is one of the most exciting things you didn't hear when it came out. This album serves as a wake up call to the industry. Take these boy's to your heart and keep them in that warm place, for they won't let you down. Used courtesy of Pet Piranha
The band traveled to Chicago two years ago to cut their first self-titled release with some guy in a brick basement(responsible to some of the greatest records of all time). Needless to say, this record sent the trio on a whirlwind series of countless tours (supporting: blood brothers, wire, slint, wolfmother etc) and gained them considerable world wide notoriety which no band from their native Dunedin, New Zealand had seen since the Dunedin sound hey day of the 80’s.
In August Die! Die! Die! recorded their new album Promises, Promises with New Zealand's greatest song writer Shayne Carter producing and engineered by Kevin Mcmahon in Upstate New York in the walkmen's studio Marcata. Reminiscent of the spirit and sounds of Black Flag, The Pixies, the Wipers, Wire, and Bailterspace Die! Die! Die! deliver an unfiltered and powerful stage show. Their relentless tour schedule and onstage antics have earned them a reputation as one of the most energetic and hardest working bands around.
Shows for Die! Die! Die! go on with fearless and confident delivery. In a wild fit, guitarist/vocalist Andrew Wilson occasionally removes his guitar (with microphone in hand) to enter the crowd. This is a most effective way of dissolving the invisible crowd/performer boundary. Drummer, Michael Prain, and bassist Lachlan Anderson keep pummeling rhythms flowing, without missing a beat.
The trio embodies a vitality that has long since made its way into the recent rock and punk circuits. They aren’t a rehearsed set of messages or stage antics, no glitter, no make-up, no phony sass.
Cutting to the quick, their songs and live delivery are nothing short of awe-inspiring. These three are on the forefront of a new revolution. Without the aid of gimmicks or pretense, Die! Die! Die! aim to appeal to all walks of life without alienating ANYONE!
Cathartic, direct, indispensable….. You will know them as Die! Die! Die!
PRESS:
Alternative Press
Disregarding the useless instrumental opener, Die! Die! Die!'s self-titled debut is a gem, jam-packed with nine tracks of urgent garage- and post-punk coupled with hip-shaking rhythms, beginning with the one-two punch of "Disappear Here" and "Franz (17 Die! Die! Die! Fans Can't Be Wrong)." But don't be mistaken-not every song sounds alike. The New Zealand-based trio retain that underlying edgy rock 'n' roll vibe throughout, but they also switch up the tones of each song. For instance, they slow down the tempo on "Auckland Is Burning" and "'Out Of The Blue'" without losing any intensity, and add to the frenetic factor with the stomping "Ashtray! Ashtray!" which features a claustrophobic, descent-into-madness feel. Meanwhile, "L.A. Bones," which starts with spurts of chaotic instrumentation and feral vocals before turning somewhat more placid, is juxtaposed nicely with the ensuing standout "Shyness Will Get You Nowhere," perhaps the album's most "serene" number, awash with an indescribable power and beauty.
SPIN
If the name didn't tip you off, Die! Die! Die! have little patience for pop concessions. Abrasive and bare-bones, the band makes a lot out of a little -- in love with a loud/soft dynamic, their eardrum-rattling clatter recalls the rollicking franticness of the Liars and the nervous jerkiness of Hot Hot Heat. Wilson sounds like he's off screaming in a room by himself, and when the rhythm section locks in a groove behind him on "Auckland is Burning" -- whilst Wilson stammers repeatedly, "I've never told the truth, how could I tell a lie?" -- the result is mind-numbingly satisfying.
CMJ
This trio has called Dundedin and Auckland their home but are in actual fact more like confrontational musical nomads plying a situationist international inspired lifestyle and calling it a band. The fact that they can make a simply brilliant noise along the way has been duly noted by fans around the world
Skyscraper Magazine
DDD smash head on the decidedly British post-punk of Wire into the snotty anger of American hardcore act Black Flag, bringing forth an exciting punk fusion from the other land down under
Big Takeover
This hit the player and eye's shot up! Totally in your face, like they're playing vaccum cleaners, and their vicious, spare, distorto-punding and vocals are hair rasing like a splatter film
Sentimentalist
Willful dissonance is often the terrain of effete art rockers, but Die! Die! Die! pull it off with cool aplomb, recalling the abrasive hypnotism of mid career Sonic Youth and the noisy vigor of Jesus Lizard.Ý The band manages to stay controlled throughout, leveraging steady structures that veer clear of pure noise or ambiguous incomprehensibility.Ý These New Zealanders put their penchants for landing half a step away from conventionality into repetition, pushing their dissonance towards some flat-lining, broken pop.
Pastepunk
Originally recorded here in the States in 2005 with Steve Albini, the debut record from New Zealand's DIE! DIE! DIE! is finally seeing a North American release from artsy label S.A.F. As the album's artwork would suggest, DIE! DIE! DIE! keeps things incredibly simple and to-the-point in their bass-heavy punk tunes. With a post-hardcore edge permeating throughout the album's duration, there is just enough substance here to warrant the band the accolades they have received from foreign press. A surprising listen.
Suburban Horror
If Die! Die! Die! is the future of rock then there is nothing to worry about. These boys from New Zealand know how to destroy and deconstruct noise and turn it into refined musical art. On their self-titled release, Die! Die! Die! shreds the opposition creating a clashing cacophony that perfectly channels rage and frustration into music, but at the same time, the music remains pleasant to the ears. "Yeah Nine Yeah"- which oddly is the seventh track on the album, go figure - has the raw sound of a garage band recording, complete with strained vocals that blend in with the background of drums, guitar, and bass. However, unlike a fledgling band that is recording in a home-made sound proofed garage, Die!Die!Die! adds complex guitar solos that are fueled by fury. The self-titled album captures manic energy of a live performance.
But, where other live albums sound like you are listening to just that - a recording of a live performance - listening to the album makes you feel like you are standing right in front of the stage, banging your head along with the sound. The title of "Franz (17 Die! Die! Die! Fans Can't Be Wrong)" says it all: if 17 of their fans love this song, then so should you. The track is full of anger and spite toward an unknown force, and it is done so well that the music is sure to seep through your ears and through your veins, pumping you full of that noise rock that only Die! Die! Die! can deliver.
Exclaim!
This first full-length from New Zealand’s Die! Die! Die! is a shattered, angular masterpiece of animal instincts and serrated edges. Frenzied energy bleeds out of each song as the album churns and whirls so fast you can almost smell the sweat that went into making it. With Die! Die! Die!, art punk sensibilities melt into tinges of thrash while recalling scuffed up garage punk aesthetics. The result is something driven and dour, full of a startling brutality that is seductively aggressive and expressive all at once. One of the more striking tracks is “Shyness Will Get You Nowhere,” which starts out as a ballad then implodes into a fragmented, jilted ride. The unpredictability factor is part of Die! Die! Die!’s appeal and there is no shortage of it here. Spastic and flailing, this full-length grips tight and doesn’t let go, letting every jerk and shove sink in just long enough to leave a mark.
Chord Magazine
After waiting through a minute of useless noise on Die! Die! Die!'s opening instrumental number, the listener is greeted by nine tracks of hyper "dance-punk," as I suppose some will deem it. The band's sound is filled with both groovy, hip-shaking rhythms and gritty, urgent, minimalist punk rock/post-punk, beginning with the one-two punch of "Disappear Here" and "Franz (17 Die! Die! Die! Fans Can't Be Wrong)," the latter titled as charmingly quirky as the band sounds. That's not to say every song sounds the same: The Dunedin, New Zealand-based trio manages to keep that dance-y/edgy/sweaty rock 'n' roll vibe throughout the album, but also switches up the songs' tones. To wit, the guys slow down the tempo a bit on "Auckland Is Burning" and "'Out of the Blue'" without losing any intensity, and add to the frenetic factor with the stomping "Ashtray! Ashtray!," which has a somewhat claustrophobic descent-into-madness feel. "L.A. Bones," which begins with spurts of chaotic instrumentation and feral vocals before turning more placid only to end on a rather crazed note, is juxtaposed with "Shyness Will Get You Nowhere," perhaps the album's best, most "serene" number, full of an indescribable power and beauty.
Treble Zine
New Zealand's Die! Die! Die! has a thing for emphatic Chk Chk Chk (!!!) punctuation•the name, more exclamation points in three song titles•which is funny since they've got the sort of hair-trigger punk theory that requires basically zero overselling. Their self-titled debut is all bulbous ribs and threadbare tenacity and clocks in at just less than 28 minutes, every one of them gutted by songs that shimmer like skeletal bonfires. I ate it up like hardcore candy. Twenty more songs and I still would have begged for more.
It's a heated, ripped-up, silly, fantastic party record. It may not move in mysterious ways, but it's all right. Trip-wired with punk contortions, songs like "Franz" and "Shyness Will Get You Nowhere" nevertheless break the right direction toward guarded but zealous pop mechanism. With its banging in-out shuffle and Andrew Wilson's repetitive screech "what you say goes, what you say goes," "Franz" sounds for all the world like Joy Division's "Digital." "Shyness" in its initial moments spikes itself with gleaming pieces of chime-like guitar that recall the keyboard effect on the Strokes' 12:51•not that it stays there long, the drums keep up a needle-sharp stomp and the chorus is a frenzied, full-throated guitar assault.
Parenthetically, the full title of "Franz" is "Franz (17 Die! Die! Die! Fans Can't Be Wrong)." There are also tracks called "Like 48th Street Maybe?", the opener, which is one minute long and may or may not be about GPS Girl, who's never exactly sure where she is (there's no way to tell, since it's 98 percent drums and there are no lyrics, but humor me); "Year Nine, Yeah!"; and "Ashtray! Ashtray!", in which Wilson actually yells "Ashtray! Ashtray!" On "Auckland Is Burning," meanwhile, Wilson assures us he's only funnin': "I never tell the truth." Easy come...
KQED
New Zealand is a major exporter of agriculture and horticulture. You know, lots of macro terms like that. Add Die! Die! Die! to that list. This youthful trio plays with infectious exuberance on its self-titled debut, and its members aren’t afraid to push music that sounds damaged, yet endearing. Guitars sound discordant and fulminating one moment, caffeinated and angular the next. They’re prodded along by bounding basslines and massive drums captured perfectly by famed producer Steve Albini. The final piece of the puzzle is a vocalist who comes off like a wild-eyed, pill-popping freak. Often, the music is manic. “Year Nine, Yeah!” is what a speed freak with a stuttering problem might sound like. Other times it settles into something even more ingratiating. “Ashtray! Ashtray!” (are you noticing how all the exclamation points are adding to the excitement?) is probably the most danceable distortion ever.
Open Your Eyes
With a name like Die! Die! Die!, you would be forgiven for thinking you’d be hit with a heavy metal barrage when you pressed play. That is off course unless you saw the picture above and dismissed them as a bunch of harmless kids. Well as it turns out, they’re somewhere in the middle. You definitely are confronted with a mass of noise when they start playing but it is never too much and always guided by a clever, underlying melody. And while they may just be young, these guys are serious about making music. Forming in just 2003, they have thrust themselves upon the world with a seemingly non-stop touring schedule and emerged with a global fanbase. Hailing from New Zealand, we have naturally claimed them as our own and I’m sure when they return to our shores, Australian audiences will be rocking out to them just as hard as any. I haven’t seem them myself, so can’t talk from experience, but you can bet it will be loud and it will be intense.
Smother
Despite their utterly inane moniker, New Zealand imports Die! Die! Die! make it all up to you within the first song or two. Art-punk garage-loud and dancehall beats greets the ear as the tortured vocals wail on and on about fuck all. Smart concise songwriting skips the nonsense and drives home the point with angular guitars and visceral vocals shaping up their sound. For fans of Franz Ferdinand and of course anything that Steve Albini has also recorded.
AMG
Auckland, New Zealand noise-punks Die! Die! Die! are nowhere near as violently abrasive as their name implies. Indeed, they may well not even be as violently abrasive as they might think they are. A brief album (its ten songs barely reach 25 minutes all told) with nary a wasted note, Die Die Die takes as its starting points the no wave skronk of assaultive late-'70s acts like Mars and DNA, as well as the lyrically and musically aggressive stance of those bands' logical culmination. (Naturally, Big Black's Steve Albini engineered this album, and it has the raw, exciting, live in a room feeling of all of his best work.) However, the other side of the trio's musical personality is expressed in bassist Michael Prain and drummer Henry Oliver, who are possibly the most ultra-tight rhythm section in all of indie rock at this moment. Therefore, singer and guitarist Andrew Wilson's sore-throat yelps and scratchy metal-edged guitar aren't matched by an equally raw and undisciplined rhythm section, but by a bassist and drummer specializing in the kind of rubbery aggro-funk first popularized by the likes of Gang of Four and the Au Pairs. So by taking equally from two diametrically opposed musical forces, Die! Die! Die! end up with a sound that's initially abrasive but ultimately surprisingly easy to enjoy.
NME
Recording an entire album in two day's is never going to result in a carefully polished collection of MOR radio anthems. D!D!D! thread that tightrope of punk cool and rock insanity so easily that Steve Albini decided to take the helm of this debut. Budget doesn't always mean crap. Used courtesy of Pet Piranha
NZ Musician
In a city where crowds sit back and watch bands with apathy aplomb, Die!Die!Die! stand out as one of the few that can get an Auckland audience moving. Here, famed producer Steve Albini captures the essence of Die!Die!Die! live, allowing them to sound like the noisy, brittle, scratchy and utterly engaging band they are in the flesh. -Used courtesy of New Zealand Musician via Capital Recordings
Real Groove
And every Die! Die! Die! show is a good one. Even when they're broken and messy and chaotic the pure passion and energy they communicate never fails to engage. So you'd think it would've been a hard task for them to recapture that on their untitled album, eh? But when you've got the High Priest of indie rock, Steve Albini (Rapeman, Big Black, Shellac) helming the recording and mixing process at his famed Electric Audio studio in Chicago, you'd be hard pressed to go wrong. -Used courtesy of Real Groove via Capital Recordings
Rip It Up
These tracks are served with the burnt crusts still on, but so are their live shows. Get along to one, and see why that's a good thing."Narelle JacksonUsed courtesy of Rip It Up via Capital Recordings
Pavement
I always make the assumption that a band like this, who are really full-on live, are going to sound a bit weak on CD. It's hard to capture the ear-splitting feeling you get at 1000db. But that's not the case with this Auckland three-piece. Even coming out of a stereo, these guys sound just like they do at a show. Not only that, but they have come up with the best bass sound in the business..."Peter HenryUsec courtesy of Pavement via Capital Recordings.
Kerrang
So here's an example of how to this 'playing music' thing, right. have a name apparently by the speech bubble of cartoon kamikaze pilot. Approach your live shows like a crack squad of soviet olympic gymnasts. Oh and write songs like 155. Used courtesy of Pet Piranha
Plan B
Play this record to really f***ing appreciate your own dull ache, to wallow in the disaster of your own creating- and secretly enjoy every last wail. Used courtesy of Pet Piranha
Rolling Stone(Australia)
A smart band whose brutal(though wonderfully danceable) beatsand subtl yet enduring melodies push them above the post-punk crap
Artrocker
Recorded in two day's with Steve Albini, this album is one of the most exciting things you didn't hear when it came out. This album serves as a wake up call to the industry. Take these boy's to your heart and keep them in that warm place, for they won't let you down. Used courtesy of Pet Piranha
