|
 |
  
 
 |
|
You Say Party! We Say Die!
Posted by Rob Ortenzi on 08-Nov-07 @ 01:51 PM|
HQ: Abbotsford, British Columbia, Canada NOW PLAYING: Lose All Time (PAPER BAG) WHY YOU SHOULD KNOW 'EM: You Say Party! We Say Die!'s stupidly danceable songs are so infectious they'll almost make you forgive British Columbia for harboring Nickelback YOU LIKE? YOU'LL LIKE: Yeah Yeah Yeahs / Le Tigre / the Rogers Sisters The members of You Say Party! We Say Die! are currently banned from entering America, which makes the Canuck dance-punk unit sound like the biggest threat to Homeland Security since GG Allin. Unfortunately, the reality is less dramatic: Last year the band was caught trying to enter the U.S. without all the necessary work permits, which led to the group being barred until 2011. Still, being flagged as undesirable by the U.S. government has made the band-singer Becky Ninkovic, bassist Stephen O'Shea, guitarist Derek Adam, keyboardist Krista Loewen and drummer Devon Clifford-something of a sensation overseas. "In this day and age, you can put a spin on anything," opines O'Shea. "For us, not being able to play the States is something that the Europeans love. I don't know if the anti-American climate we're in has anything to do with it, but knowing that they have a band the States doesn't is something they get stoked on." Although these days YSP! WSD! play festivals like Glastonbury, two years ago they were unknown outside of Abbotsford, a sleepy and religious farming town an hour's drive from Vancouver. "Most of us came from Christian families," Ninkovic reveals, "and we were raised going to church every Sunday and brought up to follow the commandments. It was really boring, so we had to make our own fun." Not content to attend berry festivals and other uber-wholesome activities for the rest of their natural-born lives, You Say Party! We Say Die! began gigging at local house parties and community halls, which led to 2005's Hit The Floor!, a deliriously DIY blast of spazzy new-wave reminiscent of Yeah Yeah Yeahs circa 2001. You Say Party!'s latest release, Lose All Time, tones down some of the over-caffeinated jitteriness heard on their debut and makes room for Prozac-flavored post-punk guitars ("Opportunity") and gloom-generation synth washes ("You're Almost There"). And while Pabst Blue Ribbon-drinking hipsters are most definitely counting down the days until You Say Party! We Say Die! will be allowed back in the States, the band aren't sitting around, holding their collective breath. "When we were going down to the States, we were trying to break into new territory [by] playing smaller venues," Ninkovic remembers. "They weren't nearly as fun to play as the shows we do in Europe and across Canada. So, really, being banned is not that heartbreaking." Mike Usinger |
