YSP! WSD! XXXX

You Say Party! We Say Die! hasn’t lost its neo new wave,
 punky sound on their third album, XXXX, but has extended their sonic
 palette with darker more refined tracks in comparison to their previous
 album Lose All Time (2007). Just like the individuals within it, the
 band’s sound has matured, filling up spaces that, with Lose All Time,
 left listeners wanting more. Vocals have become richer and more level,
 while the overall sound has very obviously grown beyond the average
 punk/new wave limitations. 
 
Tracks like “Make XXXX” and “She’s Spoken For,” both nervy danceable
 fillers, emphasize the punk side of the bands new wave punk equation.
 “There is XXXX (Within My Heart)” and “Heart Of Gold” are both haunting
 and melancholic ballads that shy away from Becky Ninkovic’s usually
 antagonistic, bratty vocals. Then there are the likes of “Cosmic Wanship
 Avengers” and “Glory” which are reminiscent of the band’s original tone
 and incorporate the Siouxsie-esque sound that they have been so
 frequently compared. 
 
One can come to the conclusion after a thorough listen that the four X’s
 in the album’s title stand for the word “LOVE.” It is the concept of
 this emotion that embodies the attitude of the whole album. With XXXX, YSD! WSD! has successfully tenderized an otherwise heavily sinister
 genre.

One Man’s Euro Trash

Halloween night at the Congress Theatre on the west end of Chicago proved to be one of the best musically-motivated decisions I’ve made, as far as nighttime live entertainment goes. I was hesitant to drop the $75 per ticket, even though Tiesto, the supposed ‘world’s most celebrated DJ’ was just beginning his world tour here in Chicago. As a true electro-fan I should have been begging, borrowing and stealing for the chance to see this bastard spin.

I enjoy a bassy techno beat (followed by many, many more) probably more than the next person, but I felt undeserving to be in this crowd. Perhaps because I am a proud member of what I would call the ‘teenybopper’ category of techno fanatics. And Tiesto? He is the real deal. The vibe at Tiesto was exactly the name of the musical-game: trance-like; his fans are die-hard and his music is their religion.

Even though I was only minimally familiar with his work, I justified my decision to see Tiesto because I knew that much of what I enjoy listening to right now can be traced back to his ‘happy hard-core trance’ sound. I also knew that there are millions of Tiesto fans that would give their right glow-stick waving arm to see and be as close to this DJ as I was for the entire night.

He didn’t make us piss ourselves waiting for him, which I must say is pretty cool considering many less established artists behave like the crowd has absolutely nothing better to do than wait around for them to take the stage…(wait, we actually don’t have anything better to do, huh?…) Anyways, thus began my first proper intro to live trance. Within the first couple seconds I knew he had already lived up to the hype I have heard about him over the past couple years.

By the last song of the night, I was the one who everyone probably thought was the die-hard fan, I was the grow-stick swinging club kid. Not only was I dressed the part (it was halloween, people!) I was diggin’ the music more than any of those so-called Tiesto ‘fans.’ So much so, that for the last hour of the show, I was on the elevated mini-stage in the middle of the crowd by myself putting on my own show. (I would give anything to get my hands on the dozens of pictures that were snapped of me doing this.) The crowd seemed happy, no, ecstatic at every track he chose to play for us. The light shows were something ridiculous, enough to give one an epileptic fit albeit, still enjoyable.

My techno music love affair had already come and gone, and here I am at a Tiesto show, a place I imagine most kids begin their journey of electronic beats and hardcore bass. However backwards my trip on the techno music train has been, I’ll be forever grateful that I got the mother-of-all-experiences, Tiesto, at the end rather than not at all.

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