It’s a bird! It’s a plane! No! It’s the super kids from You Say Party! We Say Die! bounding onto the stage. First comes the guitarist with the bionic shoulders, then the drummer with the Hulk Hogan arms storms on stage while the winged bassist swoops past them.
“I suppose Becky [Ninkovic] would have a cuddly power Care Bear stare,” says Krista Loewen, the keyboardist with the super powers, about YSP!WSD! vocalist Ninkovic, who isn’t present to defend herself.
Together this band of misfit heroes is keeping variety–the spice of life–in their music. From the obviously political “The Gap (Between the Rich and the Poor)” to the charming “Love in the New Millennium,” You Say Party! run the gambit on their debut album Hit the Floor.
“We started out intentionally writing really politically conscious songs,” Loewen recounts of their musical beginnings. “There are a lot of varied politics within the band and we wanted something we could all stand behind.”
Their credo–great music, fast-paced shows and lots of dancing–hangs on the wall of their secret lair, the pizza parlour in Vancouver where they all met. When they’re not on the road they park their faulty van on the corner and à la Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles enjoy a ridiculously huge stack of cheese pizzas. However, when you’re busy fighting the evil tedium of contemporary music, you don’t get much of a chance for downtime.
“We try to be really energetic,” says Loewen. “We always have fun and so we draw out people who want to have a good time.”
Hence it’s no surprise You Say Party! We Say Die!’s energetic, post-punk, indie, dance music is so in demand across the country, after all, those scenester kids are all about dancing nowadays. Nor is it a surprise they’re being summoned to England for the summer festival circuit.
“We never thought we’d go overseas,” explains Loewen. “Music will always be a part of my life, touring like this is something we all want to do, but while we can get away with it.”
And so with a Zap! and a Pow! You Say Party! We Say Die! will spread their super-powered tunes to the whole world, combating boring bands’ stabs at world domination. An epic battle awaits.