DIE! DIE! DIE!
Post-punk at it's 21st-century finest: half Mclusky, half Warsaw-era Joy Division - AV Club

SPRAYDOG
My Bloody Valentine via Sonic Youth indie pop - The Crack

LAKE ME
Bone-jangling and hypnotic rock outs - The Crack

SATURDAY 5 APRIL 2008
CUMBERLAND ARMS, BYKER
8PM - £5


Hailing all the way from Auckland, Die! Die! Die! are visiting our fair region as part of their extensive tour schedule. The noisy power trio has already blazed across the States and will be moving onto Australia and back home to New Zealand after their stint in the UK. Happily, that will include a show at The Cumberland Arms, Byker on Saturday 5 April 2008. Following their well-received debut long-player 's/t' which was produced by the ubiquitous Steve Albini no less, the band have just released their second full length album 'Promises, Promises' on SAF records. Produced by NZ alt-pop luminary Shayne Carter (of Flying Nun fame), and it contains some absolutely explosive sounds which you'll have the pleasure of being able to take in live, such as the melodic Sideways Here We Come, the fierce and pounding Blinding and the surging, off-kilter Britomart Sunset.

This record proves that this group is capable of melding a youthful and heady mix of alternative influences both joyful and gloomy, both modern and past (including notable New Zealand pioneers The Clean and Bailterspace), to form an urgent clatter of sheer volume and brilliance.


MP3:

Sideways, Here We Come


PRESS:

Even if its music sucked, you'd have to hand it to Die! Die! Die! At a time when dull, toothless indie bands use tough-sounding names and exclamation points with unabashed irony, the New Zealand trio truly struts like it wants listeners to drop stone dead. Thankfully, Die! Die! Die! doesn't suck in the least, though its sophomore disc, Promises Promises, is a bit of comedown from its raging self-titled debut. The short, sharp shit-kicking has softened, and the hooks now tug rather than yank. "Sideways Here We Come" offers post-punk at its 21st-century finest: Half Mclusky, half Warsaw-era Joy Division, it crams splinters of rhythm into dark, gorgeous choruses and acidic shout-alongs. The venom is still there, and it's just as potent, but it tastes a little sweeter this time around.
--The AV Club (9/10)

Kiwi comedy duo Flight of the Conchords might not be an accurate representation of musical life in their homeland, but I think it's fair to say that New Zealand has never been known as a hotbed of rock 'n' roll. Nomadic trio Die! Die! Die! might not necessarily be about to change all that, but it won't be for want of trying. I mean, just look at that band name.

Not that the vitriol is superficial. 2005's self-titled debut was a swift, angry gun-shot of an album, clocking in at just over twenty minutes but garnering critical acclaim not just back home but in alternative music circles across the globe. This sophomore effort might be a more developed affair - not to mention twice as long - but the bee is still firmly lodged within Die! Die! Die!'s bonnet. Its thirteen tracks are rough, raw and irrepressibly energetic, embodying the punk ethic that bands the world over strive for but that is only really achieved by those who don't give a damn about it. The threesome bring to mind vestiges of Black Flag, Wire, and Les Savy Fav, but Promises, Promises thrives on its own individual sense of confidence and youth, and the primitive sense of escapism that only loud, crashing rock music can bring.

Opener "Blinding" is perfect. Its repeated lament of "I could never forget her if I tried" drops you right into the heart of the problem, and so too the music. A two-second drum roll and it begins, tight-as-fuck, fast-as-hell, punk-as-anything - it's raw, it's messy, it's sheer catharsis. We never find out who this unforgettable girl is, but nor does it seem important - you're already hooked. The next cut, "Britomart Sunset", is just as fast, just as vitriolic, but, as if to prove that Die! Die! Die! aren't some power chord-happy punk band, throws into the mix all manner of fantastic noises, coaxed out of Andrew Wilson's guitar. Within the first five minutes - should that be first five seconds? - Promises, Promises has taken you aback within its sheer confident vibrancy. Clearly first impressions are something Die! Die! Die! do very well indeed.

But so much for catharsis; Promises, Promises is actually a surprisingly maturely crafted album. Well, not so much album - opener aside, you get the sense that these songs would sound good in any order - but collection of maturely crafted songs. They're mostly angry, yes, and often fast, but crucially, they don't rely on this for their foundations like those of so many second-rate punk bands. So while "A.T.T.I.T.U.D." has bucketfuls of the quality it (nearly) spells out, it's expressed via ridiculously tight bass and drums and a surprisingly sweet chorus. Similarly, the title track's tooth-gnashing demands ("I just want what I was promised") are accompanied by screeching digitised guitars and time changes that belie the band's punk origins.

And so it should come as no surprise that when Die! Die! Die! do decide to slow things down (which isn't often), they prove to be equally competent. "Sideways Here We Come" is all about intertwining, be it guitar and bass or harmonised vocals, its chorus as memorable for Michael Prain's rolling drumbeat as much as it is Wilson's hammer-ons and antagonised yells. "Whitehorses", meanwhile, employs a pendulous riff to great effect, with the unprecedented yearning of its chorus ("What would you do / If she said she'd fell out of love with you?") one of the album's most affecting moments.

Promises, Promises, then, is a triumph in many areas. While it's not perfect - "Death to the Last Romantic", for one, is more of an unexpanded idea than a song - it is raw, exciting and cathartic; so much so that it is able to match the notoriously incendiary live performances of its architects for sheer energy, whilst expanding upon these foundations in songwriting terms. And it's this combination of punk spirit, matured musicianship, clever and diverse songwriting, and their effortless knack for fast, catchy songs that means Die! Die! Die! will appeal to a varied audience, and should ensure Promises, Promises expands upon their already sizeable fanbase. You'll want to be amongst it.
--Pop Matters (8/10)

Hailing from a rather remote town in New Zealand, Die! Die! Die! have largely spent the last three years away from their hometown. Touring in support of groups like Blood Brothers, Wire, Slint, and Wolfmother, the young trio have made a name for themselves with a blistering and sometimes completely spastic live show. Their second album Promises, Promises captures a good portion of their frenetic energy, as they zip through thirteen snare-rifling pop-punk tracks in just under forty minutes.

"Blinding" kicks things off, and along with one or two other songs on the release might be among my favorite tracks I've heard in this genre since The Thermals dropped their last album. The former barrels out of the gate with a high-speed rhythm section, and finds singer Andrew Wilson adding his wild and excitable vocals. "Death To The Last Romantic" is another gem, again keeping the pace intense while shaking things up a bit with a hiccuping beat and some rancid guitar passages that sound like the recording tape is falling apart.

Essentially, Die! Die! Die! does what any great pop-punk trio does in that they manage to mix things up musically while letting their fearless singer get a bit wild. Nothing is particularly groundbreaking, but as with most releases of this sort it comes down to a lot of very small distinctions (including sheer chutzpah), most of which this group from the other country down under seems to nail. It's not quite as poppy as the aforementioned work by The Thermals, but at the same time Promises, Promises isn't straight-up punk either (at least, in the traditional sense). It's fun stuff, and I imagine their live show would be even better.
--Almost Cool (7/10)


PLAYLIST:

Never Stop - Echo & The Bunnymen
What Would Wolves Do - Les Savy Fav
Disorder - Joy Division
Where Have All The Rude Boys Gone - Ted Leo & The Pharmacists
The Great Salt Lake - Band of Horses
What You Want - My Bloody Valentine
Alec Eiffel - Pixies
I Just Wanna Get Along - The Breeders
The World Has Turned And Left Me Here - Weezer
Never Here - Elastica
Off Work - Thurston Moore
Western Battle - Seafood
I Lost All My Money At The Cock Fights - Minus The Bear
Saucer Crash - Black Ramps
The Magician Vs. The Headache - The Flaming Lips
Too Long Awake - Idlewild
Put The Freaks Up Front - dEUS
No Good Time - Graham Coxon
1972 - Giant Sand
Asprins and Alcohol - Last Days of April
Little Honda - Yo La Tengo
Weightless - Nada Surf
Prepare The Juggernaut - The Melody Unit
TV - Headlights
Without Blinking - Superchunk
Jacqui - The Brobecks
Ambush - Figurines
Computron 2000 - Kill Yourself
Dance With Your Shadow - The Rough Bunnies
You Really Wake Up The Love In Me - The Duke Spirit