The Death Set - MichelPoiccard

Thu 24th Feb, 2011 in Music Reviews

The Death Set make their intentions are clear from the start on sophomore album Michel Poiccard, as founding member Beau Velasco so perfectly states the desire of his band “I Wanna Take This Tape And Blow Up Ya Fuckin Stereo”. Seems like nothing has changed since their first brutal rock album Worldwide.

Slap Slap Slap Pound Up Down Snap follows with an intensity to match the opening declaration, and the Australian-turned-American band are still the same. It isn’t until Can You Seen Straight? that the band show a change of style and tempo; it is here that the first signs of losing Velasco to a lifelong battle with drugs show.

The band use I Miss You Beau Velasco to contemplate their loss, in their best execution of their newly acquired restraint. With other founding member Johnny Siera reportedly unable to even discuss Velasco’s death, this output is obviously one the band feel is the best way to honour his memory. Other slow(er) tracks like 7pm Woke Up An Hour Ago, which features Spank Rock, carry less weight than those that were clearly created as some form of dedication to Velasco.

Given the huge impact that the loss of Velasco has had on the band, it’s interesting to note that they stick to their original punk roots with several short and fierce songs slipping between the more serene tracks. I Been Searching For This Song Called Fashion manages to find some nice middle ground between the two approaches before Is It The End Again? wraps up the album in a reflective style that again shows the band at less than half their usual frenetic pace.

With a 50-50 split of thrash rock and slower, more radio-friendly tracks, it’s difficult to find any cohesiveness between most songs. Aside from the obvious references to Velasco that many tracks share, the album would perhaps best be consumed as two separate pieces of work. Nonetheless, there is enough solid material here – and certainly, a good handful of songs that capably honour Valasco – to say that The Death Set have survived the loss of a founding member. Whether they can go it again with him, only time will tell.