The fourth album from Canadian duo Death from Above 1979 is an energetic collection of dance-punk that melds savage ferocity with infectious hooks. Is 4 Lovers follows the style of its predecessors, delivering impossibly heavy drum beats and virtuoso bass riffs with hard-charging aggression. Throughout the album, Jesse F. Keeler’s basslines vary from dance grooves to bone-rattling stomp to sounding like ultra-heavy guitar riffing. Meanwhile, Sebastien Grainger lays down rhythms to bang heads, fill dance floors, and everything in between.
From its squealing intro, album opener “Modern Guy” is frenetic alchemy of the band’s influences, fusing a grimy skittering synthesizer lick with pounding kick drum and rapid-fire hi-hats. “You can change the world if you change you,” Grainger sings, his distorted voice adding an extra dose of cynicism.
Violent pick scratches and Keeler’s low rumbling bassline kick-off “N.Y.C. Power Elite Part I” before Grainger’s heavy drums enter the fray. Grainger tears into the elitist rich in the song with his typical wit. “They got ripped jeans in the boardroom, boredom in the bedroom,” he sings. The snarling song kicks into overdrive in the chorus, ratcheting up the intensity as it leaps an octave. “I’m just like you, I’m no hero. Just add zeros,” Grainger screams.
“N.Y.C. Power Elite Part II” then provides a stark contrast, the frantic pace of the predecessor transitioning to a slow trudge. Over-saturated distortion on Keeler’s bass gives it a tremulous, uneasy sound. “It’s killing me just living in the city,” Grainger sings, providing a counterpoint to the elite of “Part I.”
Though most of Is 4 Lovers is raucous and noisy, some tamer moments shine through. The twitching synths of “Glass Homes” have a retro-80s feel, providing more accessible dance fuel. The slow keyboard ballad “Love Letter” switches between a soulful R&B vibe in the chorus, complete with a clean piano tone, to breezy disco synth in the chorus. It’s appropriate for a song about the nostalgia of trying to hold onto a fading love. “Can’t hide it in a book, shoebox under the bed. So if I sing it right you’ll never lose this,” Grainger croons.
One of the album’s strongest songs is the bipolar “Mean Streets.” This slow ballad that references the Martin Scorsese film of the same name explodes into a hardcore mosher, wildly careening between the extremes of slow and fast, soft and loud. “We’re flexing machismo,” Grainger croons in the soft verse. “It’s the fragile young ego.” Without warning, the methodical piano groove is replaced by an onslaught of screeching distortion and crazed drums. “Maybe we need less style, more substance,” Grainger yells.
Is 4 Lovers has plenty of style and substance. Though the album goes in some new directions, the formula of previous Death from Above 1979 releases is still there and it still works. Is 4 Lovers is heavy and unpolished but full of charm and memorable hooks to go with the rumbling bass and bruising rhythms.
