Sunday 9 June 2013

DIE PRINCESS DIE

This post's artist is from the May 2013 Mix, this is track #27.

Band: DIE PRINCESS DIE
Genres: Noise Punk / Math Rock / Experimental
Related artists: N/A
Country: San Diego/Los Angeles, USA
Years Active: 2002-2007
Song: Cinatic
Album: Die Princess Die
Year: 2004
For fans of: At The Drive In, Dance Disaster Movement, These Arms Are Snakes, Depeche Mode and Chemical Brothers.

Don't you love when you buy an album by the wrong band, completely by accident? That happened to me back in 2004 when I purchased DIE PRINCESS DIE's debut LP thinking it was Die, Emperor! Die!. Oops. Lucky for me, the "Princess" band ended up being much better than the "Emperor" band.

DIE PRINCESS DIE was crazy, no doubt about it. Drawing influences from Depeche Mode, Moby, Chemical Brothers and mashing them together with drunken noise and screaming seems to be a fitting description for these four men of chaos.

Tracks like "Hunting Lowla", "Pardon the Interruption" and "Cinatic" from the pink moustache album (aka the Self Titled record) use haunting and eerie intros (not unlike The Paper Chase) but are great rock climbers (ha!) that climax in a noise-soaked mess that is loosely held together by some thumping drums and massive bass riffs. The vocals on the first album are drunken ramblings, crooning, megaphone yelling and some awesome group screaming. Again, the three tracks listed above are perfect examples of how epic noise-punk can be.

The second full length, 'Lions Eat Lions', was a very logical progression from their debut record. Their noise-rock/punk roots are intact, but they incorporate a dancey/electronic feel to the music. Prime examples are "Check", "Once a Liar Always a Liar" and "Young Lady, Your Tail is Showing". The vocals and instrumentals in general are much clearer than the self titled release, and the production quality is quite slick - which, again, is the opposite of the ST.

They were known for some pretty crazy live shows - so check out the video montage for "The Racer" and see for yourself how fucking ballistic one of these shows would be. And here's a description by the band from a San Diego newspaper:

"At Die Princess Die's 2006 South by Southwest performance, vocalist Pete Chekvala threw his guitar into a wall, picked the guitar up, threw it at another wall, and then dove into his band's rhythm section.
'Any band that plans to get up onstage and destroy shit should take it a step further and destroy themselves,' Chekvala says.
Chekvala and drummer Danny Harmon reside in Los Angeles. Bryce Martin (vocals/guitar) and Ely Morgan (bass) live in San Diego.
'A man has many demons he keeps at bay throughout the course of a day/week/month/year,' Chekvala says, 'but there are times when the demons find their way out. Punk rock is one of those highways by which the demons travel.... There was a time when Danny threw his drums at Bryce and sent him to the emergency room for head stapling. The other band members never asked why he did that because we all understand.'
Harmon adds, 'Some of our best/worst (take your pick) episodes have taken place down at Scolari's [in North Park], where late-night sets end in a sea of kids rolling around in broken glass. They don't seem to mind.'"

Seriously, this is an amazingly obscure band that packs a serious punch and is very, very original.
________________________________________________________________________

2004 - Die Princess Die cd/12"LP (download from zippyshare here) (PURCHASE HERE)
2004 - Manifolds Split 7" (download here)

2006 - Lions Eat Lions cd/12"LP (stream here)

2008 - Lions Eat Lions Deluxe cdLP (both LPs and the split are included on this France-only
           release)
________________________________________________________________________

youtube (((((video/collage))))) link

DIE EMPEROR DIE - The Racer

 
zippyshare )))))mp3((((( link
 

No comments:

Post a Comment