Add together a punk-rock attitude, electro-pop drums, guitars that span noise-rock to pop and song titles that seem to be completely comprised of inside jokes. What comes out of this strange concoction? Seems there could be about a million possibilities, most equaling pure crap but, luckily for us listeners, what The Death Set has spat forth out of that jumble is a one-in-a-million, fantastic little nugget entitled “Michel Poiccard.”
To understand this album, something else has to first be understood. The Death Set began with two guys: Johnny Siera and Beau Velasco. Since that meeting, they moved to the US, put out around a dozen EPs and singles – not to mention their first full-length album, Worldwide – and toured tirelessly as a two-piece. The two were great friends, and the keys to the underground music scene were firmly gripped in their hands. In spite all of this, Velasco was known to struggle with drug addiction and in September of 2009 was found dead in his apartment due to an overdose. No doubt this was a crushing blow to Siera. Rather than let this be the end of the band though, Siera decided to push forward and create what is basically an album completely dedicated to the memory of Beau Velasco.
The album starts off with a tinny, old sample of Velasco declaring, “I wanna take this tape and blow up your fuckin’ stereo,” a posthumous mission statement for the album. “Slap Slap Slap Pound Up Down Snap” opens the album in a raucous way – feeling like a noisy dance/mosh party – with Siera screaming out in a wildly high register, only pausing for a hip-hop/anthemic drum break. While that first track seems like an experiment in pushing genre boundaries to their limits, “Can You Scene Straight?” is a little easier to swallow with its über-catchy chorus and Death Set’s trademark punk/electro-pop combo.
In spite of it being seventeen tracks in length and clocking in at just over thirty-five minutes, this album always seems to fly by. After some thought, I’ve attributed this phenomenon to a couple of things: first, the album is a thoroughly enjoyable listening experience, but some of the tracks can blend together and disguising themselves as one continuous track as a result. Also, because some of the tunes do sound similar, the more standout tracks really shine; listening to Michel Poiccard feels a bit like a six-chapter story with sub-chapters and footnotes to add some meat to it. One of these standout tracks is aptly entitled “I Miss You Beau Velasco,” and it’s no surprise that it’s one of the most heartfelt songs on the album. While many of The Death Set’s songs have a heavily Beastie Boys-influenced hip-hop feel to them, this track feels more like a Bloc Party song.
Quite the interesting album, “Michel Poiccard” is a positive homage to a close friend and an album about moving on; continuing to let the world unravel at your eager feet. I think this album is best summed up by Johnny Siera’s lyrics in “It’s Another Day”:
"I’m trying to wallow in the hope of what can be
Not what’s been taken away.”
Artist:
www.thedeathset.com/
www.myspace.com/thedeathset
www.facebook.com/thedeathset
www.twitter.com/#!/thedeathset
Album:
"Michel Poiccard” is out now. Buy it here on Amazon .
