Death from
Above 1979
You’re a Woman, I’m a Machine
2004
Winter of 2005. My friends and I were hitting Jupiter Room every Saturday, the indie club that didn’t charge cover. One of the staple songs was “Blood On Our Hands,” which always played at the exact time we wanted to convulse.
I saw the Death From Above 1979 show a week after I had seen Arcade Fire play their hometown Funeral concert — quite a time to be young and Canadian. Pressed up against the stage, no one could take their eyes off drummer/vocalist Sebastien Grainger, and we believed him when he sang “So that you’re not alone/I want to take you home with me.”
The mythology surrounding him in Montreal was unparalleled: “He was my brother’s friend’s roommate at University of Toronto!” The band’s breakup was devastating. I remember seeing the album reduced to $9.99, and I told the clerk, “Don’t you know how important this album is? They just broke up!” He rolled his eyes. He was over it. I’m still not.
