Death From Above 1979

Death From Above 1979 (DFA1979), the boundary pushing musical alliance created in 2001 by Sebastien Grainger and Jesse F. Keeler, roared out of Toronto with the uncompromising one-two punch of 2002’s fuzz-bomb EP Heads Up and 2004’s epochal debut album You’re A Woman, I’m A Machine, complete with a 2005 North American arena tour with Nine Inch Nails and Queens Of The Stone Age, before deciding to part ways due to the strain of constantly touring.

Six years later, the rekindled DFA1979 fireworks lit stages around the world a blaze, amassing a posse of fans so passionate they incited a genuine, barricade-smashing riot at Austin’s Beauty Bar at the 2011 South By Southwest festival. Playing Lollapalooza, Coachella, Glastonbury, Reading/Leeds, Osheaga, Lowlands and more, DFA1979 resumed taking the world by storm. Their second album, The Physical World (2014) took the No. 3 spot on the Canadian Billboard album chart and peaked at No. 28 on the U.S. Hot 200, not to mention No. 3 and No. 7 shots on Billboard’s Top Alternative and Top Rock registries, respectively. TV appearances around their first two albums on iconic late-night shows including David Letterman, Conan O’Brien and Jimmy Fallon showed a wider audience their live goods.

DFA1979’s scorching 2017 outing, Outrage! Is Now prompted Pitchfork to remark that “Death From Above 1979 now sounds more vital than ever.” With three smashing albums to their name, drumming up tens of millions of views and streams, DFA1979 returned in 2021 with their 4th LP, Is 4 Lovers - once again creating a new sound and reimagining the format they pioneered two decades ago. With the 20th anniversary of their debut album coming up in 2024, DFA1979 have staked their place as the reigning champs of two-piece dance-punk cacophony.