Die Princess Die
Lions Eat Lions
Gold Standard Lab
By Jose Fritz
Last year Die Princess Die played SXSW. Mid-set their guitarist decided that his guitar no longer needed playing. It needed to be thrown across the stage and into the wall. For a moment it appeared that he had some remorse, but no. He retrieved his guitar and apparently that belligerent stringed instrument still was talking shit. It left him no option except to throw it across the stage the opposite direction into the other wall. Now the guitar was unplayable but at least no longer shit-talking. But with all the other alternatives exhausted he had no remaining choice except to tackle the drum set and give it an equally vigorous ass-whipping. All five people that showed up were wildly impressed with his fortitude. This was clearly a band destined for indie greatness.
The Princesses have come a long way from the Pink Moustache. I know that sounds like some crappy gig at a gay bar, but it’s not, though that’s certainly in the realm of their possible intentions. On some base level they understand that being so goddamned eccentric will turn some people off, but the kids that are brilliant like that also tend not to care.
I read somewhere that “The four members of Die Princess Die have backgrounds as varied as a drawer full of mismatched socks.” It’s such a great metaphor I’ve stolen it here verbatim. I won’t address it otherwise, but I just wanted to look at it again because it’s so evident in the music. Each song wildly experiments with explosive and sometimes jarring disparate ideas. Staccato drum rolls and Sonic Youth feedback segue into chanting lyrics and Dischord-era Shudder to Think riffing.
Without ever speaking with them, let me tell you they have a love of the cranked volume dial, the big speaker, ground hum, broken drum sticks and unfettered chaos on stage. They formed in San Diego then had the good sense to move to LA in 2003. About two years later, after the prerequisite obscure-out-of print 7-inch, they gave a track to GSL’s “Golden Grouper” compilation, which is how I discovered them.
The band was frenzied but more focused on actually rocking than finding the brown note. It made them stand out to say the least. Lions Eat Lions is their second full length, which was recorded by Alex Newport -- yes the one from Fudge Tunnel and Nail Bomb. It couldn’t be a more appropriate gathering. One man whose finest musical output was named for an improvised explosive device full of sharp scrap metal and a band who’s musical output actually sounds like one.
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