Guitars are so passe. Seriously, how long did those six-stringed beasts expect to remain unanimously popular? As George Harrison famously pointed out, all things must pass and with the racket Death From Above 1979 make it might finally be the end of the days, where everybody and their dog’s cancer-ridden nephew played a guitar.
On You’re a Woman, I’m a Machine this trunked duo unleash a veritable sonic attack and do it without a single note from a six-string. Consisting primarily of bass and drums, with a few synths thrown in for good measure, one wouldn’t immediately peg Death from Above 1979 as down and dirty rock ‘n’ roll crusaders but You’re a Woman, I’m a Machine certainly proves they are. “Turn it Out” opens the album with an effects drenched bass riff, thundering drums and synth stabs threatening to explode before Sebastien Grainger’s raspy scream erases any doubt of boring prerequisites to rock.
These deliriously hard moments are undoubtedly the album’s finest, but when Death From Above 1979 try to slow it down a bit the results aren’t as favourable. With their stale, run of the mill dance-punk sound these songs simply can’t live up to the pounding assault appearent throughout the rest of the album.
Save for a few songs, You’re a Woman, I’m a Machine should be enough to make us forget about our collective axe obsession. These archaic things just aren’t cool anymore.