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Formed in 2003, this Oakland foursome began in the warehouse and house party scene and quickly gained a loyal band of followers. Armed with a gothy post-punk sound and manic live show that has been compared to a gang fight, The Death of a Party have quickly established themselves as one of the most exciting new bands in the Bay Area. The band is led by frontman Gareth Lloyd, whose commanding presence and propensity for diving into the audience highlights their live show. Adam Beck holds down guitar duties, Alex Restrepo plays bass and Patrick Lynch mans the drumkit. In November 2005 the band opened up for Metric on a three week national tour. In the past, they have also played with Bloc Party, Deerhoof, the Vanishing, the Lovemakers, The Mae Shi, The Plot to Blow Up the Eiffel Tower, Autolux, Blood on the Wall, Communique, Scarling, The Mall, Hey Willpower and countless others. Brief tours with Boyskout and the Holy Kiss have successfully stormed into Southern California and Mexico. The band also took part in the 2006 Mission Creek Music Festival and the 2007 Noise Pop Festival. Their 2005 debut EP, The Shame of the Sweet, was Double Negative Records’ first release. The band’s first full-length album, The Rise and Fall of Scarlet City, was released in May 2007. |
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Interview Magazine, June 2007 Four people from Oakland, California, gulping, shouting, delirious,only occasionally pulling back to gain an inch of perspective, running right over a cliff (”She’s too young to be sleeping with a married man, but you’re too old to care”), and then scrambling back up to try it again. The songs are all mysteries, hard to penetrate, full of allure, demanding you solve them. |
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New York Waste, Spring 2007 (scroll down) Oh yeah! These chaps sound like the Clash, or is it the Cramps… THE DEATH OF A PARTY send “The Rise and Fall of Scarlet City” and we’re hooked. Well constructed songs, with lots of room to stretch out and get your drink on. This stuff must be great live, let us know when you get to town. |
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West Coast Performer, May 2007 The Death of a Party is an ironic moniker considering that the band was formed at an Oakland house party four years ago. Their debut album, The Rise and Fall of Scarlet City, exudes the party atmosphere with post-punk dance riffs while showing off intelligent lyrics and darker themes. The Death of a Party has an interesting amalgam of sounds — at times bordering on the ¡Forward, Russia! school of abrasive London punk, while at others channeling a melancholic Bright Eyes vibe. Self-described as indie and gothic, the songs on The Rise and Fall of Scarlet City have ominous piano/organ orchestrations and dark imagery. Album opener “Coronation Under Scarlet Seas” starts the disc off with a dance aesthetic. Singer Gareth Philip Nicholas’ vocals are as frenetic as the guitar scratching that blends them in with the accompanying music. “The Gentle Art of Making Enemies” is more gothic, utilizing stylish organ washes to create a portentous atmosphere that contrasts with the song’s more chipper counterparts. Despite the name, “The Fucking Ocean” is a bit of a departure, with a softer piano lead and overall slower tempo. The most impressive aspects prevalent throughout the album are the alliterative qualities and visual imagery inherent in their lyrics. This tendency is best illustrated in the song “Scarlet City Millionaire’s Club:” “I said New York, Paris and Rome / The world’s in my pocket, the world is my throne /The wealth in my blood, the gold in my touch / The Scarlet City Millionaire’s Club.” The Rise and Fall of Scarlet City is a great window into a young band with remarkable musical maturity. |
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There is Modern Lovers attitude and a bit of Art Brut tongue-in-cheek combined with old school punk traces especially on the ‘upbadabada’s’ of ‘One Trick Pony Girl’. |
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There’s something very garage rockish about The Death of a Party. There’s something very Fugazi-ish about The Death of a Party. There’s something very indie punk rock about The Death of a Party. This is a band who craft their songs in an artful way, making sure to focus on the quality of catchy hooks while not compromising integrity. They mix all of the elements that I’ve mentioned above and create a good sound that would seem, at least on the surface, like a less technical version of At the Drive In. They know when to rock out and when to lay back, displaying a variety of talent that make this album so much fun to listen to. |
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Zap! Bang!, May 20, 2007 (click for full article) The Death of a Party are not the killers of a good time — in fact, they are riotous. |
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Subba-Cultcha, May 2007 (click for full article) The Rise and Fall of Scarlet City opens with the fresh impressive blistering ‘Coronation Under Scarlet Seas’, sharp guitars, pounding drums, impossible to ignore vocals from Gareth Nicholas and a evocative crazy xylophone middle part, setting the attitude for the rest of the album. Followed by the punchy ‘Weekend’ with its ice cream van jingle and creepy child talking opening, heady bass leads into a snappy ‘ba ba bah bah ba ba la’ catchy chorus, ending with an At The Drive In-esque scream-a-long. Throughout the album it retains this energetic consistency. |
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Pastepunk, May 2007 (click for full article) If THE BLOOD BROTHERS’ Jordan Blilie ever met up with members of the defunct DESPISTADO, it’s likely that the two forces would create music much like that on The Rise And Fall Of Scarlet City, the debut disc from THE DEATH OF A PARTY. |
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Deli Magazine SF, May 2007 CD of the Month Gothy, glammy, arty, punky – it’s hard to put your finger on exactly what is so good about Oakland’s Death of a Party, but it’s definitely something. On the band’s highly anticipated second release, ‘Rise and Fall of Scarlet City’, they do all these adjectives well and cram in some Clash-y bounce for good measure. Singer Gareth Lloyd’s bratty yelp will remind you of about a half dozen other frontmen, but his band’s theatrical pomp and confident strut separates Death from the pack. Surprising twists and sudden singalongs erupt throughout this album, keeping you on your toes even after you think you’ve got a handle on this sound. ‘Rise and Fall of Scarlet City’ is available May 22nd on Double Negative Records. The band’s record release party will be on May 24th at the Bottom of the Hill. |
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Arcady Magzine #003 (click for full article) Sure, post-punk is nothing new, but instead of sounding like an 11-track reworking of Gang of Four’s Damaged Goods, their debut LP The Rise and Fall of Scarlet City adds to its post-punk core a myriad of influences with such great subtlety that it never compromises its contemporary character. |
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Culture Bunker, May 4, 2007 (click for full article) It’s a sound that uses the post-punk frame to deliver some fast chops of tortured pop. Occasionally brilliant, this is not the death of a party, friends, but the glorious beginning. |
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Cosmos Gaming, April 25, 2007 (click for full article) The Death of a Party’s debut album may be one of the catchiest art/punk style albums to come out in the last couple of months. |
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Audio Blood, April 2007 (click and scroll down to find full article) They mix edgier moments between melodic haunting and the results, when looking at each track singularly, will make college radio stations very happy. |
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Smother, April 2007 (click and scroll down to find full article) Post-punk and dance punk broker a merger that results in nasal vocals, hit-worthy guitar anthems, and angular songwriting. Shutting the door on the wannabe’s, The Death of a Party isn’t afraid to bare their teeth and roll up their sleeves. And it’s that sort of elbow grease, machismo, and daring that will have the fans of the Blood Brothers and the Plot to Blow Up the Eiffel Tower hanging out together. |
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BITE TV, April 19, 2007 (click for full article) It’s interesting that Oakland’s the Death of a Party started off in their hometown’s house party scene in 2003. Judging by the eleven tracks on their first full length album, “The Rise and Fall of Scarlet City”, they were anything BUT the death of those house parties. |
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AndMoreAgain, March 24, 2007 (click for full article) So, you’ve got some Strokes, some Voidoids, and some Stranglers–at least on “The Fucking Ocean,” which calls “Golden Brown” to mind–and the occasional ba-ba-bas and doo-doo-doos are a nice touch. As aggressive as the music may be, especially Adam Michael Beck’s guitar playing and Patrick Lynch’s drumming, this foursome always sounds like they’re having fun. |
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XLR8R.com, March 19, 2007 (click for full article) The XLR8R Office Top Ten Album Picks After a lengthy tour with Canada’s Metric, The Death of a Party are showing their goth-meets-Gang of Four wings on their debut for Double Negative. Between the jangling guitars, sassed-out vocals, and catchy bass hooks, there’s no way this will get out of your head. |
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Noise Pop 2007 Program Guide (click for full article) Yet another rising band to emerge from Oakland’s burgeoning underground scene, Death of a Party has built a healthy buzz with their dark, eminently danceable songs and invigorating live show. Eschewing the slicker sound of contemporaries like the Killers and fellow East Bay group the Lovemakers, Death of a Party brings grittier, harder-edged influences to their angular grooves. Boosted by a nationwide tour with lauded Toronto outfit Metric and opening slots for the likes of Bloc Party, the act gears up for the pending release of their concept-driven full-length debut The Rise and Fall of Scarlet City (on Oakland imprint Double Negative Records). -Dave Pehling |
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San Francisco Chronicle, November 16th, 2006 (click for full article)
The life of this Oakland band’s party began as all the best parties do: accidentally. During the summer of 2003, singer Gareth Philip Nicholas and guitarist Adam Beck were invited to perform at a couple of low-key warehouse gigs. Before long, Death of a Party (whose name is borrowed from the Blur song) discovered that it had a growing following of fans showing up to hear its killer dark, dancey post-punk shows. Next thing they knew, the Party members were hitting the road for gigs in Mexico City, as well as supporting other bands, such as Metric, on a U.S. tour. After a few more Bay Area gigs this year, Death of a Party will get ready to release its debut album, “The Rise and Fall of Scarlet City.” It’s a semi-concept record set for spring. “Scarlet City is an imaginary place somewhere between San Francisco, Oakland and San Diego,” band members say. “It’s where we grew up and learned to either take care of or avoid our problems.” - Delfin Vigil |
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Mesh Magazine, Issue 12 (click for full article) Mesh Magazine’s Top 20(ish) Bay Area Releases of 2005 |
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San Francisco Chronicle, October 30th, 2005 San Francisco’s own the Death of a Party opens for Toronto’ Metric on Thursday at Slim’s. While fellow dance-rockers the Killers skate along new wave’s polished and glamorous edge, the Death of a Party digs a little deeper for its grimy influences. The band’s jerky rhythms and popish punk hooks recall first-gen punks the Buzzcocks and the Clash. And it conjures up the kind of dark and paranoid imagery that had post-punks of that era reaching for the black eyeliner. - Bill Picture |
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Mesh Magazine, Issue #10 (click for full article) The band’s live show is comparable to a full-on, endorphin-charged gang fight. - Fred Miketa |
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Zero Magazine, July 2005 (click for full article) Album Review - Alanna Lee |
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East Bay Express, June 8th, 2005 (scroll down) The Gang of Four reunion tour hit SF last month, rekindling adoration for those long-dormant acidic Brits, with their vicious basslines, jagged guitar, and bitingly satirical lyrics that somehow inspire both merriment and malicious malaise. The Death of a Party has clearly taken notes — the quartet’s debut EP, The Shame of the Sweet (out on KALX/Live 105 guru Disco Shawn’s new label, Double Negative) traffics in a tortured dance-punk that has helped the band turn its considerable connections and East Bay warehouse scene dalliances into higher-profile shows with both top-shelf locals (the Lovemakers) and big-shot national stars (a plum late-May gig opening for Bloc Party). TDoaP certainly has style, and the song title “Haircut Homicide” pretty accurately sums it up. - Rob Harvilla |
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Local Music Spotlight |
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LA Weekly, January 2005
When San Francisco’s stylish Death of a Party began, they played as if it were Wembley Stadium, their clever ’80s/goth/indie combination chock-full of juicy minor-chord progressions, but driving enough to make you miss the Clash - Tatiana Simonian |