Death From Above 1979

The piano opening of Turn It Out has the room excited for what is to come from the bass and drum powerhouse with the tempo kept high and the volume loud. It takes the typically unresponsive Brighton audience a few songs to warm up, but once latest single Virgins hits, a noticeable chunk of the room bounce up and down to the song’s infectious chorus riff. Between sets of songs later come bizarre and brooding spoken word samples, such as an excerpt of an interview with Kurt Cobain on social withdrawal and alienation.

Cheap Talk pushes the tempo back up to the kind of level that DFA are known for and the audience begin to loosen up more and more to the band’s relentless doses of rhythm. It’s songs like these from the new album and the reactions they get tonight that are a testament to the strength of their newer material. It’s encouraging to see a band reform after time away, and not rest on the laurels of a record released over a decade ago. In fact the majority of their set is taken from The Physical World with Trainwreck 1979 getting one of the biggest responses. Big hits from 2004’s You’re A Woman, I’m A Machine are still featured with both Going Steady and Little Girl accompanied by strobe lights flashing in time to demented riffs.

Concorde has heated considerably and while Jesse F. Keeler’s bass guitar booms and bites with signature grit, the sweat-drenched Sebastien Grainger is probably breathing his own perspiration at this point, though his drumming stays solid and lead vocal duties don’t waver. After fifteen songs they return for a three song encore which includes an extra fast version of Pull Out upon request and fan favourite Romantic Rights. Not finishing here does come as something of an anti-climax. They go on to close with The Physical World and the past hour or so of punk and dance influenced noise does far more than many other drab duo’s that have appeared in recent years. It’s safe to say DFA have handled their comeback with dignity and, oh yeah, they’re still one of the best two-pieces in the world.