Did the DFA sue noisey Candian duo Death from Above?

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I just picked up their new disc, You're a Woman, I'm a Machine, and i couldn't help noticing that they're now known as Death from Above 1979 (the date an allusion to the release of "Apocalypse Now" maybe?) Did the DFA give them legal trouble or something?

Anyone else hear this new album? I quite enjoyed the Heads Up ep. Any thoughts?

― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Wednesday, 27 October 2004 20:32 (twenty-one years ago)

I think they threatened some sort of legal action, yes.

― n/a (Nick A.), Wednesday, 27 October 2004 20:37 (twenty-one years ago)

how lame

― Roger Fidelity (Roger Fidelity), Wednesday, 27 October 2004 20:40 (twenty-one years ago)

don't think they were officially sued, but they did get a letter from a lawyer.
think one of the guys was born in '79.
should have called themselves Death From Manitoba.....

― m0stly clean (m0stly clean), Wednesday, 27 October 2004 20:42 (twenty-one years ago)

Yes, they threatened to sue them.

"This Hogtown band was just called Death from Above till NYC's not-too-cool-to-sue DFA Records made a fuss about the rights to that name. Word is the post-punk killers still have pent-up anger to release." ~ from a Toronto alt-weekly: (http://www.nowtoronto.com/issues/2004-08-05/cover_story.php)

Pretty lame on the DFA's part, IMO.

So - everything I've heard is pretty cool, that being "Romantic Rights" and "Sexy Results"

Curious enough to pick it up...

― Clusterfuck at the Baja Fresh Salsa Bar (Ben Boyer), Wednesday, 27 October 2004 20:43 (twenty-one years ago)

DFA's lawyers forced them to chance their name this past summer. Sebastian Grainger said about the whole kerfuffle, "We tagged my birth date to the end of the name and DFA the label has a huge legal bill to pay and we didn't pay a thing."

The album is superb, in my opinion. Offers much more than just the bass/drums gimmick. And do those boys ever tear it up live...I couldn't believe it when I saw then a couple weeks ago. They and the ever-lovable Metric were opening for Canadian screamo bores Billy Talent, and they both blew those kids off the stage.

"Romantic Rights" is one of my favourite singles from this year.

― a. begrand (a begrand), Wednesday, 27 October 2004 20:46 (twenty-one years ago)

i wonder how the dfa felt about death from above 1979 playing the vice 10th anniversary party.

― motown modown (Jody Beth Rosen), Wednesday, 27 October 2004 20:47 (twenty-one years ago)

Death From Above "keeping their name" only hurts them, cuz every press blurb is going to mention DFA making then "change their name."

― Loose Translation: Sexy Dancer (sexyDancer), Wednesday, 27 October 2004 20:50 (twenty-one years ago)

It didn't hurt (the) Verve, the Mission (UK), (the London) Suede, etc. etc.

― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Wednesday, 27 October 2004 20:54 (twenty-one years ago)

...Dinosaur (jr.)

― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Wednesday, 27 October 2004 20:55 (twenty-one years ago)

yeah, but they weren't operating in the same city at the same time as the thing with the same name.

― Loose Translation: Sexy Dancer (sexyDancer), Wednesday, 27 October 2004 20:57 (twenty-one years ago)

Wait - Death From Above 1979 is on Vice Records.
And they're Canadian, not New Yorkers.

― Clusterfuck at the Baja Fresh Salsa Bar (Ben Boyer), Wednesday, 27 October 2004 20:59 (twenty-one years ago)

Didn't they move here, though?

― Loose Translation: Sexy Dancer (sexyDancer), Wednesday, 27 October 2004 21:01 (twenty-one years ago)

Are the punk DFA actually considered good? I listened to the EP with the elephants on it a couple years ago, and I liked it okay, but it didn't seem very distinctive. But I've talked to a couple people who seem excited by them. What's supposed to make them so great?

― elrod hendrix, Wednesday, 27 October 2004 21:03 (twenty-one years ago)

The songs are as intense as one would expect, but the production's so good, that you get the feeling that the best songs (Romantic Rights, Black History Month, Sexy Results) could have mainstream appeal...Much Music's been playing "Romantic Rights" a fair bit in Canada.

Keeler's bass playing is unreal on the album.

― a. begrand (a begrand), Wednesday, 27 October 2004 21:16 (twenty-one years ago)

One of the fellas has 1979 emblazoned on his forearm forever, as I witnessed in the new issue of Lowdown. He is true gangsta!

― pher (pher), Wednesday, 27 October 2004 22:08 (twenty-one years ago)

this is like the only good rock music i've heard this year.
in other words, it fucking wails.

― stomp (+dancefloor), Thursday, 28 October 2004 00:27 (twenty-one years ago)

I just gave it a really overexcited review for stylus. when i first heard 'turn it out' as i walked through the subway back in canada, i was like 'oh shit, son, i think it's on'. and yes, it was on. these boys make me proud of where i'm from.

it's in my top five.

― Rollie Pemberton (Rollie Pemberton), Thursday, 28 October 2004 02:28 (twenty-one years ago)

FUCK EMO FAGGOT LIGHTNING BOLT WANNABEs

― sometimes i like to pretend i am very small and warm (ex machina), Thursday, 28 October 2004 02:30 (twenty-one years ago)

BUT THEY ACTUALLY SOUND VERY LITTLE LIKE LB REALLY, ALSO THEY HAVE FRENCH HOUSE REMIXES (for some reason)

― DJ Mencap0))), Thursday, 28 October 2004 08:10 (twenty-one years ago)

Unlike LB and Black Dice, though, Death From Above actually write and play tunes. It's not just a noise workout.

― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Thursday, 28 October 2004 13:05 (twenty-one years ago)

is this a good thing?

― ddb (ddb), Thursday, 28 October 2004 13:48 (twenty-one years ago)

Verse-chorus-verse v. noise workouts? No need to fight! Everyone wins!

― David R. (popshots75`), Thursday, 28 October 2004 13:54 (twenty-one years ago)

alex, LB play tunes too

― s1ocki (slutsky), Thursday, 28 October 2004 15:35 (twenty-one years ago)

dfa sounded way more "normal" than lb when i heard their EP (just like a better than average hardcore band or something). i would never have lumped them in with lightning bolt or black dice. strange.

― elrod hendrix, Thursday, 28 October 2004 15:44 (twenty-one years ago)

Bah, they blow. People seem to like them, I couldn't care less.

― Mr Noodles (Mr Noodles), Thursday, 28 October 2004 16:12 (twenty-one years ago)

The new record's actually really great. I honestly dont know enough about Lightning Bolt and Black Dice to wage an argument against them, but the little I did hear of their stuff wasn't quite that melodic (that's not a critiscism, just an observation). Death From Above are noisey, but they're still tune/song/melody/riff based. In any case, I think it's fuckin' great. I

― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Thursday, 28 October 2004 19:54 (twenty-one years ago)

I, I, I....

― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Thursday, 28 October 2004 19:54 (twenty-one years ago)

I, I'm notcha steppin stooo ooo ooo oooone

― m0stly clean (m0stly clean), Thursday, 28 October 2004 20:24 (twenty-one years ago)

Alex, the Black Dice comparisons are about as relevent as a fucking Nelly comparison.

What Lightning Bolt have you heard?

― sometimes i like to pretend i am very small and warm (ex machina), Thursday, 28 October 2004 20:30 (twenty-one years ago)

Alex, the Black Dice comparisons are about as relevent as a fucking Nelly comparison.

What Lightning Bolt have you heard?

Didn't one of the guys in Lightning Bolt join Black Dice? That's the only reason I cited them. As to what I heard, i couldn't tell you....a friend of mine played them for me amidst a lot of other stuff not too long ago. Please suggest something of theirs for me to check out.

― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Thursday, 28 October 2004 20:39 (twenty-one years ago)

Get Wonderful Rainbox, Alex, I'm willing to bet you'd actually like it, or at least some of it. It's quite loud but does indeed have melodies.

― n/a (Nick A.), Thursday, 28 October 2004 20:42 (twenty-one years ago)

Yea, Black Dice sounded first like Fusushitsusha and Gravity records bands. Then kind of like Void or Sightings. Then kind of like late era Boredoms. Now they sound like the B side of Tago Mago.

― sometimes i like to pretend i am very small and warm (ex machina), Thursday, 28 October 2004 20:45 (twenty-one years ago)

Hisham Bharoocha used to sing for Lightning Bolt but quit to drum for Black Dice, who sacked him recently.

― Loose Translation: Sexy Dancer (sexyDancer), Thursday, 28 October 2004 20:46 (twenty-one years ago)

He's not a great technical drummer but he sounds like nothing else. He adds a lot to Semen of the Sun, Beaches and Canyons and Number 3, which are my favorite Black Dice releases. I even like the crazy break on Miles of Smiles. So good!

― sometimes i like to pretend i am very small and warm (ex machina), Thursday, 28 October 2004 20:50 (twenty-one years ago)

Pfork today:

"The whole affair sounds admittedly far-fetched, especially considering both the band's musical history-- their 2003 debut Heads Up was good and short but merely barked-- and the band's apparent dickheadedness: After Death From Above Records (aka the DFA), approached the band to change its name, the duo responded by tacking on the legal minimum of numbers to their moniker and posting to their former web site: 'FUCK DFA RECORDS FUCK JAMES MURPHY WE DECLARE JIHAD ON THEM HOLY WAR ENDING IN THIER DEATH AND DISMEMBERMENT... james murphy is a selfish piece of fuck that will burn in the flames of a specially dedicated rock and roll jihad. if i had the resources i would fly a plane into his skull.'"

ummmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm...... remind me who's the dickhead again?

― mattp, Friday, 29 October 2004 13:41 (twenty-one years ago)

Tim Goldsworthy is even exempt from pschotic Al-Qaeda disses.

― B.A.R.M.S. (Barima), Friday, 29 October 2004 13:52 (twenty-one years ago)

fly a plane into his skull?
HEY CANADIAN! NOT FUNNY TO NEW YORKERS.

― Loose Translation: Sexy Dancer (sexyDancer), Friday, 29 October 2004 13:56 (twenty-one years ago)

THIS NEW YORKER IS LAUGHING.

― GRIND THE PIGS (ddb), Friday, 29 October 2004 15:39 (twenty-one years ago)

So a band almost nobody has heard of until this year, which apparently first came into existence sometime after "House of Jealous Lovers" broke, is upset because a far more well-known group which preceded them wants them to change their name due to confusion since they keep using the exact same initials?

Yeah, jihad, man. Jihad like a hurricane.

― MC Transmaniacon (natepatrin), Friday, 29 October 2004 16:00 (twenty-one years ago)

I want to know if Alex has listened to Lightning Bolt yet.

― n/a (Nick A.), Friday, 29 October 2004 16:05 (twenty-one years ago)

I saw a video of Lightning Bolt once and it sounded like the Concorde on codiene. Feh poo ick.

― MC Transmaniacon (natepatrin), Friday, 29 October 2004 16:06 (twenty-one years ago)

The Yeah Yeah Yeahs 1983

― Loose Translation: Sexy Dancer (sexyDancer), Friday, 29 October 2004 16:08 (twenty-one years ago)

Those comments are definitely unacceptable, and change my opinion of the whole thing. Go ahead and sue them, Murphy and Goldsworthy.

That said, has anyone ever referred to DFA Records as Death From Above? Nobody ever says "man, Death From Above did a great job on that Cone Toaster 12"" or whatever, do they?

And also, I don't think I know what this means: "it sounded like the Concorde on codiene. Feh poo ick", but I'm pretty sure that I disagree with it.

― Clusterfuck at the Baja Fresh Salsa Bar (Ben Boyer), Friday, 29 October 2004 16:14 (twenty-one years ago)

I hope KRS-One has enough digits to avoid a lawsuit from Kill Rock Stars.

― Loose Translation: Sexy Dancer (sexyDancer), Friday, 29 October 2004 16:18 (twenty-one years ago)

Who was first?

― Mr Noodles (Mr Noodles), Friday, 29 October 2004 16:21 (twenty-one years ago)

"Why don't critics just say if the album is bad or good? Why do they have to muck things up by trying to evoke things?"

― MC Transmaniacon (natepatrin), Friday, 29 October 2004 16:23 (twenty-one years ago)

(I mean, you know what a supersonic jet sounds like and you know what it feels like to be wonked out on cough syrup; what's not to understand?)

(Sorry, I'm being a dick.)

(Also, you know who else I hope sues DFA 1979? Gonzo.)

― MC Transmaniacon (natepatrin), Friday, 29 October 2004 16:25 (twenty-one years ago)

And where is Candia? Do gumdrops grow on trees there?

― MC Transmaniacon (natepatrin), Friday, 29 October 2004 16:25 (twenty-one years ago)

The US Navy SEALs should sue the whole lot of em.

― Loose Translation: Sexy Dancer (sexyDancer), Friday, 29 October 2004 16:29 (twenty-one years ago)

But Nate, Lightning Bolt don't sound like that!
They sound like a fat old man having an asthma attack while being forcibly sodomized by the ghost of a hyena.

― Clusterfuck at the Baja Fresh Salsa Bar (Ben Boyer), Friday, 29 October 2004 16:57 (twenty-one years ago)

no, they sound like a tuba hooked up to the exhaust of a '70 AAR Hemi Cuda and driven up the large intestine of a diplodocus

this is fun

― MC Transmaniacon (natepatrin), Friday, 29 October 2004 17:03 (twenty-one years ago)

Navy Seals? Death From Above is an army helicopter thing, no? It was written on the helicopters in Apocolypse Now and Crispy Ambulance used it for a song.

― Dan Selzer (Dan Selzer), Friday, 29 October 2004 17:05 (twenty-one years ago)

CRISPY AMBULANCE SUES EVERYONE

― MC Transmaniacon (natepatrin), Friday, 29 October 2004 17:05 (twenty-one years ago)

no, Robert Duvall sues everyone.

He is the godfather's lawyer, after all.

― Dan Selzer (Dan Selzer), Friday, 29 October 2004 17:17 (twenty-one years ago)

Shelly Duvall is suing Blood on the Wall? What the fuck?!

― Clusterfuck at the Baja Fresh Salsa Bar (Ben Boyer), Friday, 29 October 2004 17:26 (twenty-one years ago)

I mis-googled. "Death From Above" is the motto of the 101st Airborne.

― Loose Translation: Sexy Dancer (sexyDancer), Friday, 29 October 2004 18:08 (twenty-one years ago)

FUCK EMO FAGGOT LIGHTNING BOLT WANNABEs

hahaha. agreed. my friend went to toronto to interview them. they all lived in yorkville (posh section of toronto), and talked about how hard it was to live in the 'hood' (and remember, i'm a canadian and i know that canadians have no sense of irony). afterwards they asked my friend if he wanted to go get a smoothie with them. he did and they bragged about how lawyers are working out shit to get the best deal for them. dfa 1979 suck. they were being hyped big-time in england and i've seen no impact. certainly not for the money paid for that band.

― doomie x, Saturday, 30 October 2004 06:41 (twenty-one years ago)

I think they played, in glasgow, last night. that's all.

― RJG (RJG), Saturday, 30 October 2004 20:20 (twenty-one years ago)

I enjoy their music, that's all I know.

― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Sunday, 31 October 2004 04:11 (twenty-one years ago)

So do I. In person, however, they strike me as very... insular, to put it politely

― DJ Mencap0))), Sunday, 31 October 2004 11:40 (twenty-one years ago)

maybe DFA and Death from Above have more than one thing in common?

― Loose Translation: Sexy Dancer (sexyDancer), Sunday, 31 October 2004 18:07 (twenty-one years ago)

they're a great band, and the lightning bolt comparisons are pretty off base. alex is right, lightning bolt are way more mathy and boring (or at least they were pre-Wonderful Rainbow, which I haven't heard). and way to go doomie, bringing class warfare back to music. maybe they should publish their tax returns in the NME? haven't you quit ILX yet?

― Dave M. (rotten03), Sunday, 7 November 2004 17:55 (twenty-one years ago)

oooo...

death from above are the GAP version of lightning bolt. adapt, jerky.

― doomie x, Sunday, 7 November 2004 17:59 (twenty-one years ago)

dfa 1979 are what i hate: generic rip-offs of underground bands that they have morphed all together so people can think that its an edgy purchase.

― doomie x, Sunday, 7 November 2004 18:18 (twenty-one years ago)

ie sell-outs?

― s1ocki (slutsky), Sunday, 7 November 2004 18:49 (twenty-one years ago)

maybe you should be posting on the mrr board!

― s1ocki (slutsky), Sunday, 7 November 2004 18:49 (twenty-one years ago)

wtf is wrong with the gap?

― adam (adam), Sunday, 7 November 2004 18:51 (twenty-one years ago)

it's a generic ripoff of some cool indie clothing store only doomie knows about

― s1ocki (slutsky), Sunday, 7 November 2004 19:02 (twenty-one years ago)

aw man. when does the gap come up for ironic reappraisal? is that on the schedule for next year or what?

― adam (adam), Sunday, 7 November 2004 19:40 (twenty-one years ago)

gap jeans are very popular with indie fux

― Spinning Down Alone You Spin Alive (ex machina), Sunday, 7 November 2004 21:59 (twenty-one years ago)

indie jeans NOW!

― s1ocki (slutsky), Sunday, 7 November 2004 22:02 (twenty-one years ago)

watch out for emo jeans, they pinch the bejesus out of your balls

― MC Transmaniacon (natepatrin), Monday, 8 November 2004 00:25 (twenty-one years ago)

they're not meant to fit people with balls

― s1ocki (slutsky), Monday, 8 November 2004 01:11 (twenty-one years ago)

i got emo jeans from nordstrom rack. they are murder on the balls but have a subtle flare. they are "levi's premium."

i know nothing of gap jeans but last winter they had some seriously strokes denim jackets. also the dfa 1979 album sounds a lot more like the exploding hearts than lightning bolt.

― adam (adam), Monday, 8 November 2004 02:53 (twenty-one years ago)

Parliament should sue them, too. That album cover is some Trombipulation action for sure.

― m0stly clean (m0stly clean), Monday, 8 November 2004 02:59 (twenty-one years ago)

PATRIN I LOVE YOU

― Dave M. (rotten03), Monday, 8 November 2004 03:11 (twenty-one years ago)

dfa 1979 are what i hate: generic rip-offs of underground bands that they have morphed all together so people can think that its an edgy purchase.

amen. they're terrible.

― lauren (laurenp), Monday, 8 November 2004 10:24 (twenty-one years ago)

dfa 1979 are what i hate: generic rip-offs of underground bands that they have morphed all together so people can think that its an edgy purchase.

Which bands Doomie?

― DJ Mencap0))), Monday, 8 November 2004 10:38 (twenty-one years ago)

Look look look.

If Tom Petty and the heartbreakers, and the Heartbreakers, can coexist in a state of mutual exclusion, why cannae the DFA79 and so on?

― mark grout (mark grout), Monday, 8 November 2004 10:58 (twenty-one years ago)

four months pass...

SUCK SUCK SUCKS SUCKS

― charleston charge (chaki), Friday, 25 March 2005 22:36 (twenty years ago)

the DFA label lawsuit was the best thing for these guys and their surrounding publicity. too bad. listened to the album in the local store. zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.

― donut debonair (donut), Friday, 25 March 2005 23:08 (twenty years ago)

Ha... SWITCH!

I just saw them live last night, with Big Business, Oxes, and Controller Controller...(These Arms Are Snakes headlined, but I left well before they played.)

DFA 1979's album is fucking dire. But their live show is quite the opposite. They were quite compelling all the way through.. not at all what I expected, given the album. Way to go, dudes!

Big Business took the entire show (from what I saw) easily still, but DFA 1979 are a must-see band live.

Oxes were fun too, but they seem to be more tired and not into it as they used to be.

Controller Controller (from Toronto) were quite bad. Boring Gang-of-Four-isms with a female singer that sounds like she used to front a ska-punk band.

― donut debonair (donut), Friday, 1 April 2005 21:41 (twenty years ago)

yeah i was quite disappointed with controller controller as well, when i saw them w/ DFA79 in NYC. and i kinda like(d) their 'history' EP too.

― rajeev (rajeev), Friday, 1 April 2005 22:38 (twenty years ago)

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