Originally written by Mike Diver · 13 June 2005
Death from Above 1979
Black History Month
Label: 679 Recordings Release Date: 13/06/2005
DFA1979's quite astounding (really) album You're A Woman, I'm A Machine has been available for what seems like forever, so it's a little odd to hear 'Black History Month' wheeled out as a single so late into a campaign that's already achieved so much. The sludgy, buzzsaw bass and bloodcurdling vocal histrionics are familiar now, rendering the song somewhat redundant as a stand-alone proposition; indeed, DFA1979's material is generally digested better in multiple doses, so any single has to be fuckin' killer. This... this is not, in the grand scheme of previous releases anyway.
Fret not though, 45 fans - this critical tome has a twist in its tail. The trend of bands_ du jour_ covering the work of contemporary peers (see: The Cribs / Kaiser Chiefs interface) has spread to Canada, and the b-side of this otherwise not-really-worth-it single carries a stripped-back take on Bloc Party's 'Luno'. In true DFA1979 fashion, though, however minimalist the reinterpretation, the song still rocks some. Just about worth the two hundred pennies or so.
• 6 Mike Diver's Score