Search - You Say Party We Say Die :: Lose All Time

Stars grew so bright, better than neon lights

E. A Solinas | MD USA | 08/14/2007

(4 out of 5 stars)

"You Say Party! We Say Die! have come a long, long way from the church basement they started from.



So has their dancepunk, which hasn't lost its freshness (or complexity) in their second outing "Lose All Time." The first few songs sound a bit too much the same, but they up the tempo and add in some new melodies by the halfway point -- a confection of high-octane, complex dancepunkers full of volcanic energy.



The first song is a buildup at first -- whirring energy buildup, the sound of a guitar being tuned, and an increasingly fast mumble of: "This is a test, this is a test, thisisatest THISISATEST..."



Then it explodes into a tightly-wound rocker with hyperactive instrumentation, erratic beats and a haunting new wave sound. Becky Ninkovic groans pleadingly about "we drink, we die," impersonations ("will you take my place for awhile?/Change names and nobody will notice/and I will be gone/but you can wear my clothes"), and war protests.



That's the sound that persists through the first few songs -- new-wavey dancepunk with solid synth beats, grimy guitars and smashing drums. But that changes with "Monster," where the guitars are skewed into a twisting pop melody under a mellow swamp of keyboard. While they stick primarily to the dancepunk after that, they also try weaving in other sounds -- stormy experimental hazes, classic-rock moments, and the ironically-named ballad "Dancefloor Destroyer."



And the final song is all the experimental weirdness that DIDN'T intrude on the fast-paced melodies -- twenty-three minutes of squeaks, dial tones, bubbles, robot instrumentals, and twisting electronic sounds.



"Lose All the Time" is basically Say Party! We Say Die! taking the fun-but-not-brilliant guitar-rock of their debut, amping it up, and adding some new flourishes. It succeeds in keeping things interesting -- they're more polished and sound like they're having a bit more fun than last time.



It rides on really strong, muscular guitars that can skitter and twist in on themselves, and occasionally lapse into a fuzzy wall of hazy riffs. But they primarily seem interested in making you bounce in your chair. And the guitar and solid bass are wrapped in a shimmering ribbon of new-wavey keyboard, and some really smashing drums.



The songs are kind of hard to make out, and tend to get a bit buried in the energetic melodies. Ninkovic's voice isn't hard to make out, though -- she sounds raw, wild and just a bit overworked, like a party girl who hasn't come home even at sunrise.



"Lose All Time" doesn't win all the time, but they do a solid job of crafting unpredictable, quirky dancepunk with a new wave twist, which won't allow you to stop tapping your feet. A nice, solid, wild sophomore album."