Rad attitude

>>The furious, full-contact
fun of the Death Set

PERSONAL TOUCH: The Death Set in action

by RUPERT BOTTENBERG

Today, the Death Set’s recent debut on the Counter label, Worldwide, is a masterpiece of fast, furious, fun-as-hell pop-core with bleeps aplenty but no brakes to slam, the audio equivalent of a six-pack of Red Bull downed in five minutes flat. Back in 2005, though, it was just a glint in the eye of impish Australian Johnny Sierra. Step one was connecting with Beau Velasco, the only dude in his area code who had the decency to go, in Sierra’s words, “apeshit spastic” on stage.

“The Gold Coast isn’t a city, it’s a big town,” says Sierra, “so most of the people were playing boring indie rock or pub rock. When I first saw Beau playing, it was rad. It was pretty much watching what I like to do on stage, and I felt that somehow we should get together and write and play.”

That they did, but feeling that Australia wasn’t big enough for the both of them, the duo relocated to New York City. “Coming from another country, New York is kinda the romantic thing to do, but in all reality, it’s hard to find one’s feet. We were just doing things to survive rather than making music.”

That of course would just not do, so Sierra and Velasco relocated again in ’06, from the Big Apple to Baltimore, where art happenings, all-ages hardcore shows and lo-fi electronic experimentation were melting together into a gleeful ooze amid loose rules and cheap rents.

“You had bands like Dan Deacon, Ponytail, Ecstatic Sunshine—it was just awesome, this rad, positive scene. The bands were so eclectic that it was a supportive atmosphere rather than competitive. Most at the time were living in warehouses and throwing their own shows, so two or three times a week there was a show going on. It was a special little time. Now, a lot of the spaces are being banned from doing shows—which kinda sucks—but I guess any scene goes in cycles.”

And there are plenty of scenes for the Death Set, eager roadhogs, to invade. Velasco has since retired from live duties to pursue a career in tattooing, so for gigs, Sierra’s enlisted a guitarist, Peter O’Connell, and not one but two drummers. “Aesthetically, it looks badass, and sonically, it gives it a lot more dynamics. It’s more of a punk rock show on the road.

Fucking right it is. A Death Set gig is in the same full-contact, play-in-the-crowd style as Dan Deacon and Girl Talk, which requires an absence of personal-space inhibitions on Sierra’s part, but how close is too close?

“I don’t know,” chuckles Sierra. “I haven’t had to say that yet. The closer and more spazzy it gets, the more fun it is. The whole show, even though it’s thrashy and energetic, has a positive vibe to it, 95 per cent of the time, so I’ve never had to say that yet. Cables get pulled out and pedals get stomped and we have to stop the show sometimes, but whatever. I’d rather play those shows any day over a big stage show that sounds perfect. I mean, fuck, if you want a sonically perfect show, just go buy the CD and listen to it on your headphones.”

With Bonde do Role at les Saints
on Friday, May 16, 10 p.m., $17