Description
Draculazombieusa
Artist: Dracula Zombie USA
Format: CD
Release Date: 10/18/2005
LABEL: CD Baby
GENRE: Electronic
DESCRIPTION
DraculaZombieUSA are four nice young people. Will Collision sings and uses a laptop to kick out unique skitters and breaks. Travis Gravitas plays drums with the mercilessness of a methamphetamined puma. Versatile Andy Influence plays bass, guitar, and sings. And Danielle 'the Anvil' Neidhart helps out with the vocals and the getting-down. At drum and bass tempos (Aphex Twin, Lightning Bolt, Death From Above 1979), they play psychedelic party jams (Daft Punk, LCD Soundsystem, Talking Heads) with fancy and fetching lyrics. They sing about space travel, the frustrations of fecklessness, and leading a colony of bears against a gang of medieval monsters. At their hyper live shows, our heroes are out to get everyone shaking it. Ask for some moon-walking- Will will bring it. Some press for you: 'DZUSA remind us of that catchy-as-shit song by Underworld from Trainspotting; DZUSA's techno-inflected pop captures the same sunny, sweaty ambience.' -Time Out New York 'The band name has a sort of lovable B movie feel to it. And so does the music…Fun loving and danceable indie electronica pop.' -Mystery & Misery 'Top quality tunes… There's certainly an odd fusion of styles here. Try to conjure a sound that might be described as 'post-punk breaks' – like LCD Soundsystem getting dirty with an old sampler, more scattered than their usual 4-4 disco.' -FatPlanet 'DZUSA's 'The Summer Jam' features just about everything you'd like to hear in a song, only mashed together and fed through your speakers at an unbelievably hyper pace. Basically it's 3 minutes of manic, joy-inducing fun.' -Delusions of Adequacy 'Here at ScissorKick, we've stumbled into this niche where electronic and organic elements coexist nicely within the same space. Sometimes however, that space can be more like a Lower East Side studio occupied by 25 partially shaved, semi-retarded orangutans in adult diapers dancing to Sheena Easton. That's just the image I get when I listened to these 4 tracks from DraculaZombieUSA who appear to be more human beings (barely) than retarded monkeys, but no less primordially moved by the electronic beats and guitar spasms. They seem not to take themselves too seriously, so hopefully I can do my daily good turn by posting these links which the band describes as 'aphex twin + lightning bolt + lcd soundsystem.' I'd like to think of them instead as the mutant baby of said threesome, which gives them some time to mature and refine and become a truly devastating 3-headed electro-rock hydra. -ScissorKick 'Cheerleader music has been on the rise as of late, and I for one wholeheartedly welcome it. Whether it's used more as a prop (i.e. Sufjan Stevens' entire band wearing matching "Illinois" sweaters and shouting cheers to introduce their songs) or as an entire ethos (i.e. The Go! Team), cheerleading in music gives everyone in the crowd the team spirit needed to sustain the band's energy and help the listener feel like part of the group. 'Of course, I should clarify that if Sufjan is the sweet, sensitive cheerleader who also takes AP math classes and volunteers at the homeless shelter, and if the Go! Team is the squad that goes to nationals almost every year (and even won once!), then the members of DraculaZombieUSA are the rebellious biker cheerleaders, snorting lines of coke under the bleachers after the game and having unprotected sex at will with unsuspecting members of the chess team. 'But perhaps that's not an entirely fair assessment. I mean, if DraculaZombieUSA were my daughter, heck, I'd be proud of her for seamlessly melding the playful electronics of Aphex Twin with the searing guitarscapes of Lightning Bolt, the instant danceability of !!! and the occasional lyrical poignancy of Modest Mouse. 'True, I might scold her for getting a little bawdy on "Parallel Lives Perpendicular High Fives" ("I can't help but look at asses") or for going perhaps a bit too hard on the coke on "I Need I Need Money Money Money," but I would still praise her for the undeniably cool, intricate beats that start out "The Summer Jam" and "I Like the Snow," and for almost sounding accessible enough for "The O.C." on "Thomas Window Paine." Almost. You can still do a little better, DraculaZombieUSA. But don't worry, I still love you very very much. Now let's go out for some shakes! 'Hmmm…now that I think about it, this review sounds an awful lot like it was written by my dad. Gooooooooooo team!' -Salt Shaker Magazine 'DZUSA will either be big in the next year or on the buzz. Don't tell me I didn't warn you.' -PolloxNiner HERE'S SOME OTHER STUFF, FROM WILL: What was once three is now four. Andy Influence remaines with us in spirit and cross-coast recorded material, but other responsibilities preclude his appearance on stage with the rest of the gang. I'll tell you right now this bio charge is an awkward enterprise for our hero (it's me here at the other end, Will). So before we get any further allow me to direct you to some more exciting business: here, here, and here. And for further diversions, check this serious business. Oh, and if you have not yet listened to the jams, I mean, that's probably the best way to get to know us right? I suppose you've noticed a strange, boring, annoying anxiety about me so far. Well that brings me to my first point about DZUSA. A couple of our songs are based entirely on dreams that I have had. That banal pool can still be a well of goodness for someone slightly uncomfortable in their own skin. See, what is said in my dreams is not really me, my conscious me, so revealing their contents is not akin to skinny naked me, like say, singing about a break up or bar fight that actually happened to me. I think my favorite jam is Bear Island, which tells the tale of a hero, me, sleeping me really, encountering three islands. The first is bare and ominous. If you stand at the top of the island, which is really just a bulbous bryophyted rise above the surrounding sea, you can see the edges of the island. I mean, it's small and lonely. The second holds a little bear town, with agriculture and families and everything, picture the ewok village. The third is home to many a medieval monster, the kind found illuminated in monk texts and the like. Unlike the bear island, this is a snarled anarchic dystopia whose purpose is to serve as a launching point for the army of hydrophora, manticores, footed morays, and horrid gores (not ogres) to attack their peaceful neighbor. So I lead the bears, across the water that divides them, to battle the monsters on the third island. My second point is that it's important to stay busy. I suppose that's something else the songs are, in whole or in part, about. Are you still reading? My third point is that DZUSA wants to tell more stories. There's a lot of whiny music out there that may have it's place, but is probably over-represented in the genres of the day. Seriously, do you want to hear about my crap? I mean, sure the stories, especially the dreams, are the narcotic nocturnal organization of the day's stresses and overstimulations (i.e. crap). But let's put a layer of rudimentary literary devices between you and me. That way I get to talk about racoons and X-men, things you're certainly familiar with, rather than the time I was in fifth grade and told my math teacher, in front of the entire class, that we were both W.A.S.P.s. Yikes, That was embarrasing. I really can moonwalk, although I have difficulty doing it on thick carpetting, especially if I'm soccer-cleated.
Tracklist:
1 The Summer Jam
2 I Like the Snow
3 Parallel Lives Perpendicular High Fives
4 I Need I Need Money Money Money
5 Bear Island
6 Thomas Window Paine
7 So Far That I Even Saw the Beginning of the Universe
