Album Review: You Say Party! We Say Die! - XXXX
October 6th, 2009
You Say Party! We Say Die! XXXX [Paper Bag]
When Abbotsford, BC’s You Say Party! We Say Die! emerged from obscurity in 2005 with their debut album Hit The Floor it was hard to resist the band’s unbridled enthusiasm and raucous anthems. An interesting storyline regarding one member’s ban from U.S. customs and they were set for their big break (outside of the States, of course).
But then 2007’s Lose All Time appeared and to my ears it was like someone had taken the wind out of their sails. The band’s frenetic nature was deflated, as if they were stripped of its anthemic virtues and given some limp grooves and a new synth as compensation. So, in this age of waning attention spans and constant bombardment from new music, I welcomed XXXX with the usual cynicism and hesitation. After all, it has reached a point where you get that one strike and you’re out.
YSP!WSD! have proven me wrong though - kinda. While the new wave influence is still quite heavy throughout XXXX, so is the spirit of their debut. “Cosmic Wanship Avengers” is feverish and fun, using call and response, twitching synths and best of all, climatic choruses to deliver that much needed blow. “There Is XXXX (Within My Heart),” meanwhile, sounds like it could have saved Lose All Time, with its loose rhythms, memorable shout outs and unwinding structure.
Unfortunately, YSP!WSD! all too often restrain themselves and for some frustrating reason, refuse to push their songs into the anthems I always expect them to become. It’s hard not to love anything called “Laura Palmer’s Prom,” but instead of capitalizing on the reflective weight of the lyrics, they simply coast on some Disintegration-era keyboards and choose not to tug on the emotional strings with a big chorus.
The same can be said for the closing “Heart Of Gold,” which sounds remarkably close to the type of fading torch song Yeah Yeah Yeahs have trademarked. However, unlike YYY - who YSP!WSD! have often been compared to - the BC bunch simply ride it out and waste an opportunity to deliver the heartfelt blow Karen O always lands.
XXXX may be the most comprehensive statement the band have made so far, but I can’t help feel they’ll fallen short of greatness once again by holding out on giving it their everything.
Rating: B-
- Cam Lindsay
Tags: XXXX, You Say Party! We Say Die!, YSP!WSD!
Posted on Tuesday, October 6th, 2009 at 11:16 am by Cam and is filed under Reviews, The New Music.
