Death By Sexy: Curse the Curse

You might be able to accuse Death By Sexy of being any number of things, but lacking sonic tenacity and power certainly isn’t one of them. This mighty threesome carves a hole in the often tepid world of indie rock with some of the fiercest and loudest power riffs in recent memory. What works so well about Curse the Curse is how focused it actually is. Consider a track like “Wake Me Up” which features a gnarling, howling chorus, but quickly evolves into a sharp and precise, fist-in-the-air call to arms. With a gut-busting chorus that often evokes Against Me! had Tom Gabel been raised on New York punk and not Billy Bragg. Don’t beat Curse the Curse into the party-rock corner however. While it’s easy to imagine more than a few kegs being emptied to surf-rock beatdowns like “Sweet,” it’s even easier to imagine Curse the Curse lighting up locker rooms in an effort to get the adrenaline flowing. Because that’s what it definitely does.