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Die! Die! Die! is making punk Promises, Promises
Die! Die! Die is a punk trio from Dunedin, New Zealand. Consisting of Andrew Wilson, Michael Prain and Lachlan Anderson, this little group has been touring the road with Blood Brothers, Wire, Slint, and Wolfmother in support of their release Promises, Promises.
The record has four singles noted for radio play. “Sideways Here we Come” is a cut that works in like an early Clash single, full of bite and bitters. Out of the four suggested tracks, this one feels like more like a single with the “Woo, woo” backing vocals being the hook to beat. “Blinding” with it’s booming percussion feels like a lost track from The Jam’s perfect recording In The City. The bass drives over the guitar is such a way that it is the dominate instrument. A cleaver bit of pop sensibility. “A.T.T.I.T.U.D” is a club rave-up, with a spelling chorus and heavy tom-tom drums. The bass just glides over the vocal in a madness that is infective, as it is effective. Though it doesn’t have a feeling of being a hit single, it does have the best hook out of the entire release “Blue Shoes” is the ending salvo to the recording and almost saves the recording. The pleading of “I cannot believe” does come across as sincere. The guitar feedback is another element that works in the overall structure of the song.
The problem is with the rest of the recording. There are 13 tracks and most do not measure up to the rest of the work. “Britomart Sunset” is the second song and is a perfect example of some of the limitation within the punk genre. There is so little going on in the rhythm and the vocals go from pleading to annoying in the blink of an eye. “Death to the Last Romantic” shows some of the most irritating aspects of punk. The song just drags on and on with nothing interesting in site. It is a big misfire that may work live. “White horses” drones like something from Joy Division but without the stunning vocals. The exact thing can be said about “Maybe: Definitely” but it even less technical in the execution. Too many songs come across as bad Joy Division.
“ECHOECHO” has a nice little hook in the chorus but is buried so deep in the work that most will have given up on the band before getting to the song. “Throw a Fit” sounds like its title. It is not so much a song as a group of kids throwing a fit on their instruments. One of the most irritating songs on the record.
With a name like Die! Die! Die! you can guess what kind of music to expect, and it isn’t going to be Barry Manilow. And to be honest, most punk bands don’t come across on records as well as they do on a smoky club stage. The Sex Pistols were never captured that well on record. But for the type of music it fits into, it is not a bad recording. If you dig Black Flag, The Meat Puppets, or early The Pixies, you might want to check out Promises, Promises.
