XXXX

No, I'm not reviewing an adult film... I wonder how that would go over though...

The album I will be reviewing today is You Say Party! We Say Die!'s new album "XXXX". We're going up Nort' for this band; they're canucks! They released this album in Canada last fall and just released it here in the US on February 9th, 2010. So far, its received some pretty good reviews: an 80 in both All Music Guide and NOW Magazine, and with an overall Metacritic score of 73.

This band falls all over themselves with concerns to music genres; they can be tossed into rock, indie, alternative, and pop. For me, personally, the pop and rock stand out for me most. When it comes to female vocalists backed by a rock ensemble, its hard not to fall into the idea that all female vocalist rock bands sound the same. Fortunately enough for You Say Party! We Say Die! they bring to mind other successful female bands, reaching as far back as the 1980s with The GO-GOs and more recently to The Donnas. "Glory" is very reminiscent of The GO-GOs hit "We Got the Beat". Almost immediately I thought of The GO-GOs while listening to that song. It has a very poppy, upbeat rhythm to it, that definitely brings out the pop side in YSP!WSD!. Their song "Cosmic Wanship Avengers" draws more from The Donnas with a bit of a more "we're strong, rebellious women" attitude. This song definitely draws up from their rock attitude with a consistently fast guitar line and drum beat, accompanied by the anthem like lyrics that definitely gives the idea that a mob of women are singing the song.

Throughout the album, the rock side of YSP!WSD! is definitely brought out more than the pop side. The song "Make XXXX" is a bit more poppy than some of the other songs, but still has a very strong rock quality. After that, they do start to bring out their alternative side a bit more, in fact, for the whole last half of their album entirely. Whereas the first half was more rock and pop, the last half is definitely more alternative and indie. "XXXX/ Loyalty" seems to be the lone standing "rock" song within the last half of the song. Now, do they do a good job of balancing this? Yes, for the most part, they do. They definitely lean more towards rock and alternative, shying away from the pop and indie side a bit, which is unfortunate because "Glory" is definitely one of my more liked songs on the album. Their last song "Heart of Gold" definitely shows why they can some times fall into the indie category. Its a very soft song and if you didn't know better, you'd would think its an entirely different band, falling somewhere along the lines of A Fine Frenzy or even Enya.

As far as the album as a whole goes, I like it. However, there are some parts I like more than others. Like I said before, this band is literally tripping all over itself in the genre department: they fall into rock, indie, pop, and alternative. This, however, isn't an advantage for them. They do the rock and the alternative really well, however, I think they're rock/pop is almost their strongest factor. If they're still trying to figure out what their sound is, its evident from the album that they're leaning towards rock/alternative. Personally, I think that's unfortunate because I do like their song "Glory" so much and it is so reminiscent of The GO-GOs. "Heart of Gold" although its a pretty song, really doesn't fit into the album; YSP! WSD! really should not venture into the indie realm, especially when the whole rest of the album is rock/alternative. Their pop aspect fits in because they manage to merge it into the rock/alternative, but "Heart of Gold" sticks out like a sore thumb and is a very disappointing end to the album.

Although they draw on many female vocalists, The Donnas and the GO-GOs among them, I think that You say Part! We Say Die! is still really trying to figure out where they fit into the picture. If this were their first album, I would understand more, but its their third. They may catch a break because it is, however, their first album to be released into the US. Also, if anyone decides to give them a listen, in the songs "There is XXXX (Within My Heart)" and "Make XXXX", try to see if you notice a sort of howling noise they make. Its supposed to be a bird, I think, but regardless, if anyone has listened to Shakira's "She Wolf", it definitely sounds like it was inspired by her "howl"; I just thought it was funny. In the end, You Say Party! We Say Die!, although they draw from several female vocally led bands, whether inadvertently or not, they struggle to find their own sound. If they don't find their own sound soon, they'll soon fall into that idea that all female vocal rock bands sound the same and will be quickly forgotten. Overall, I give the album a 74. Give it a listen here.

Coming up tomorrow: "Crazy Heart OST"