>>PREVIEW
DEATH BY STEREO
Wednesday, August 24
The Warehouse
"We’ve been stupid in the past," says Death By Stereo guitarist Dan Palmer with an air of humility. "We were always rushing to get our albums done so fast that we were never totally happy with any of them."
Such is clearly not the case for the band’s latest (and surely greatest) effort, Death For Life (Epitaph). As the punk-metal hybrid outfit has learned – better late than never – when you’re committing your music to tape for eternity, it shouldn’t really be a rush-job.
So they’ve taken that concept to heart this time around and Death For Life is a furious, bombastic affair. Fast and aggressive, yet dynamic and methodical, the songs don’t request listening so much as grab you by the (insert chromosome result here), forcing you to beg for release.
"Hey, that’s what happens when you actually learn to take a lot of time with (a) record," Palmer says, laughing. "It’s kind of sad, too, ’cause the other (albums) were only rushed to get finished so that we (could) go on tours. To go on fuckin’ tours? What the hell were we thinking? But at least with the experience of this record, we had to rethink what we’ve been doing and learn from the mistakes. You have to fuck up once or twice before you realize you’re doing something in a dumb way."
So, what made them smarten up? Why the sudden change of heart with Death For Life? Palmer says that it was simply a matter of realizing that they’ve never bothered to let an album breathe – to exercise patience with recording and fully realize the sort of album they set out to create.
But it’s not as if this has really posed a problem for them anyway. One of Epitaph’s most devoutly adored cult bands, there’s no lack of interest in Death By Stereo. It’s just a touch of own-worst-critic syndrome.
"That’s kind of the truth. You still always think, ‘What could have been better had we given ourselves more time?’ I wish more bands would think like that. But you gotta move on, which also applies to us in stylistic terms," says Palmer. "We’ve never put out the same style of record. Kids ask why we never put out an album like the first one and we’re like, ‘Well, we already did that. Why do it again?’ If you want to hear songs like that, listen to that fuckin’ album. You can’t win with some kids."
A massive point of contention with Death By Stereo (which also includes vocalist Efrem Schulz, drummer Todd Hennig, guitarist Tito and bassist Tyler Rebbe), the comparisons that fans make cause Palmer to shrug and grimace at the same time.
"Oh man, it pisses me off when kids compare your new album to the last one. When we were touring with (sophomore effort) Into the Valley of Death, they’d say it wasn’t as good as (Epitaph debut) Day Of The Death. Now they’re saying that Death For Life isn’t as good as Into the Valley…, which they love. Make up your fucking mind. When did you start to like the last album?"
Fortunately, Palmer has a rationale for it all, which helps him forget about it now and then.
"(Fans) freak out when something’s a bit too new for them. It’s an aversion to change. They get into the mind frame of what a band should sound like and you have to fuck with that. It would be boring otherwise."
Then again, people should realize that because of their amalgamation of punk rock and heavy metal, Death By Stereo has never really been a predictable band. Proud yet frustrated by the same, Palmer admits that even they aren’t quite sure where they should be pegged themselves.
"It’s difficult. When you look at someone like Matchbook Romance, it’s simple – emo kids will eat it up. Sometimes we’re in a snowboarding magazine or something – it’s fine because it’s not so specific. But when you’re put in Revolver, it seems weird. There’s a specific sort of music fan that reads those kinds of magazines and they’ll either love you or hate you. It’s always hard to tell and it gets frustrating not knowing, especially when we don’t even know where we fit. It’s never simple, but it’s definitely a lot more fun." |
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