Not The Masters Of Their Craft
Matthew Winters
There are some bands that you hear about because friends like them. There are others you hear about because the critics like them. Then there are bands you hear about because your favorite band loves them. Death From Above 1979 was one band that was a band's band. Their blend of electronic beats and distortion, amazing bass lines, and vocals that screamed post hardcore made them a heavy favorite in the early '00s.
Unfortunately, like many bands that are this good, they broke up. The duo, yes duo, of Jesse F. Keeler and Sebastian Grainger split in 2006 but it was not the end for these two sonically. Grainger released a solo album late last year under the new moniker Sebastian Grainger & the Mountains on Saddle Creek Records, it was largely a folk affair but tracks like "(Are There) Ways To Come Home?" ran the gambit between the folk leanings of his new band and the Death From Above 1979 style he was famous for.
Jesse F. Keeler however went a different route. He took the dance floor nature of DFA1979, extracted it out and ran with it. Keeler and fellow knob turner Al-P released their first LP "The Looks" in '06 under the new moniker MSTRKRFT, pronounced "masterkraft." It was a masterpiece of dance floor love and the group was immediately commissioned to do remixes for big names like Justice and Bloc Party.
Flash forward two years to '09 and the duo release Fist of God. While the record is good, it still does not really stand out for anyone who is not a fan of the genre. The jams are there however: "Heartbreaker (Featuring John Legend)" is a ready made comedown song for anyone that has been on the dance floor too long, "Bounce (Featuring N.O.R.E. & Isis)" is the next grime hit that Dizzee Rascal never wrote, and "Click Click (Featuring E-40)" is the next action movie fight song. However without a vocalist, tracks like "1,000 Cigarettes" fall flat and are a bit too repetitive for their own nature.
While MSTRKRFT is great for the dance floor and as background music to action sequences and commercials, it is a tough pill to swallow if you are not a fan of electronic music, and it is even more disappointing considering Keeler's pedigree. All we can hope for is that Death From Above 1979 has a reunion tour in the plans.
Originally Published in The WSU Signpost 4/10/09
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"it was largely a folk affair"...
ReplyDeletethere's not one folk song on the record.
The record was deemed a folk rock record by my own personal listen, that deems it a folk record in my eyes. As it is sonically very far off from the releases of Death From Above 1979, I think that it is very easily deemed a folk record in comparision. I think you are thinking about the album in the traditional folk format and I am thinking of it in the newer folk rock or indie folk stuff of today. Thanks so much for your comment and keep reading.
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