Revenge SF/DJ Shitbird

Item: Welcome to the Party
Rating: 8
Author: Jesse Raub

Welcome to the Party (2004)

Jesse Raub

Hmm…where to begin? I'll begin with Revenge SF, since it is a Split CD (god I hate these things…just release separate CDs!) Anyway, Revenge SF is drums and gritty, bass-y keyboards with distorted vocals. They play dance music that reminds me of grind stripped down. Maybe a slightly more tame The Locust without guitar and bass. I like it. It shows definite progression crazy time signatures and the like. Really crazy stuff.

Killer tracks include "The Gist," and "Bird on a Wire." And all the other ones. I'm also getting a very Ex-Models vibe from it as well, in the way that the instruments play more rhythm than melody.

There's not a whole lot more to say other than "This shit rocks my pretentious hipster socks right off!" You probably won't like it because I do. Or at least, a good chunk of you are going to say that without even listening to it. To me, it's some of the most intricately orchestrated music with just drums and keys. Blows the fuck out of Mates of State. This shit's like Mates of State on crack. And it's awesome. Did I say that before? I'm having a dance party in my head. Literally.

And now for something completely different. Sort of.

DJ Shitbird and the Ultimate Party Machine features 8 year old Kristy Somethingorother of Lil' Pocketknife fame throwing out her rapping(is it really rapping?) over fast crazy trance/techno beats. It's…just nowhere near as good as Revenge. Where Revenge is intricate and interesting with tempo changes and killer rhythms, this is just repetitive. Sure, it's cute that she's eight years old. But cuteness does not necessarily make good music. While the Revenge half of the review gets at least an 8, this part gets a 3 or 4. With songs like "Pockets Full of Party," "Party Bomb," "Ru N2 Party," it seems like Kristy is trying to be the next AWK. ZING.

Overall, I'll give this album an 8. The reason for this is that there are 11 amazing Revenge SF tracks and only 5 repetitive ones by DJ Shitbird. In my book, more than 10 songs = enough to be a full length CD. I suggest buying it and listening to the DJ Shitbird part once for cuteness factor. Then pretend like the last five songs are non-existent.