Die! Die! Die!
SAF Records 2006

This is what the music on Seattle's 107.7 The End wishes it sounded like. And it's probably too aggressive and edgy for even our beloved local college radio.

So it's up to me to shout it into your alternatively burnt out ears that New Zealand band Die! Die! Die!'s self-titled debut is the album you've been longing for since 1992.

D!D!D! is comprised of Andrew Wilson, Michael Prain, and Henry Oliver with Steve Albini on the board and mastering by Steve Rook at Abbey Road. Nice credentials for a debut, to say the least.

Oddly enough, D!D!D! is releasing it's second album Promises, Promises as I write this review of their first full-length, so I'll just stick with what I've got; which is a Pandora's box of angular guitar-driven punk rock in the tradition of Gang of Four, The Coolies, and Mission to Burma. I only bring up the names of these bands to set the stage for a performance that is a cornucopia of scratchy and abrasive vocals over jilted, slashing metal guitar.

There is an element of industrialism that I can't quite put my finger on, but it is surging under this tide of angry, yet poignant minimalist rock. A trick Albini learned on his Big Black projects perhaps?

Each track is unique to itself. the album starts out with a grinding machine-like instrumental that bleeds into the opening vocal cut, "Disappear Here." The lyrics tend to blur into the cacophony that swirls like a seething storm of racecar engines and tornado winds screaming "I said it's all right, what you say goes, what you say goes!"

With over a quarter million hits on MySpace and five dates lined up at SXSW, what the fans say goes! You will like this CD, and not only that, but you may find this recording still in your top 20 twenty years from now. - (8/10)

Die! Die! Die!'s second album Promises, Promises came out on February 5. The band plays this year's SXSW festival, March 7 -18 in Austin, Texas.

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