Biography
Initially merging jagged guitar lines with synth textures reminiscent of the Epoxies and Controller.Controller, the Abbotsford quintet You Say Party! We Say Die! gravitated more decisively toward dance-rock, their dual female vocalists and insistent rhythms at times evoking a contemporary counterpart to Martha & the Muffins. As the years advanced, personal growth combined with loss prompted a shift toward denser, more somber textures, prompting the group in 2010 to shorten its name following the death of a member.
The five-piece formed in Abbotsford, British Columbia, toward the end of 2003 when vocalist Becky Ninkovic, keyboardist Krista Loewen, and bassist Stephen O'Shea sought an indoor pursuit during the area's severe winters. They recruited drummer Bruce Dyck, guitarist Jason Nicholas, and additional keyboardist Carissa Ropponen, after which the band began playing western Canadian venues and issued the 2004 EP Danskwad. Subsequent personnel shifts saw Ropponen depart, leaving Loewen as the only keyboard player, while Derek Adam and Devon Clifford replaced Nicholas and Dyck.
In 2005 the group signed with Vancouver's Sound Document Records and delivered its first full-length, Hit the Floor!, whose song titles followed the band's exclamatory naming convention. The tracks "You Did It!" and "The Gap Between the Rich and the Poor" appeared on British independent labels the following year while the band crisscrossed Europe and North America. An October 2006 attempt to enter the United States without valid visas resulted in a touring prohibition that lasted until 2011, leading the members to urge supporters to contact legislators and back an online petition. Their second album, Lose All Time, arrived in March 2007.
Extensive road work across Canada and Europe after the release nearly dissolved the group. A fruitful 2008 visit to Japan and China restored momentum; once personal matters were settled, the musicians reconvened to record 2010's XXXX. Tragedy struck on 17 April 2010 when drummer Devon Clifford collapsed onstage in Vancouver and died. Following months of reflection and the conviction that Clifford would have wished them to persist, the remaining members—now without Krista Loewen, who stepped away from performing—adopted the shortened name You Say Party. Keyboardist Robert Andow and drummer Bobby Siadat, both formerly of Gang Violence, joined the lineup as touring resumed.
After concerts in the U.K., the band issued the remix collection REMIXXXX and a split single with the Duloks, then entered hiatus roughly a year after Clifford's passing. The pause ended just over twelve months later when Loewen rejoined; the quartet released the Clifford tribute single "Friend." Performing with a drum machine and cultivating a murkier, atmospheric palette, the group unveiled its self-titled fourth album in early 2016.
The five-piece formed in Abbotsford, British Columbia, toward the end of 2003 when vocalist Becky Ninkovic, keyboardist Krista Loewen, and bassist Stephen O'Shea sought an indoor pursuit during the area's severe winters. They recruited drummer Bruce Dyck, guitarist Jason Nicholas, and additional keyboardist Carissa Ropponen, after which the band began playing western Canadian venues and issued the 2004 EP Danskwad. Subsequent personnel shifts saw Ropponen depart, leaving Loewen as the only keyboard player, while Derek Adam and Devon Clifford replaced Nicholas and Dyck.
In 2005 the group signed with Vancouver's Sound Document Records and delivered its first full-length, Hit the Floor!, whose song titles followed the band's exclamatory naming convention. The tracks "You Did It!" and "The Gap Between the Rich and the Poor" appeared on British independent labels the following year while the band crisscrossed Europe and North America. An October 2006 attempt to enter the United States without valid visas resulted in a touring prohibition that lasted until 2011, leading the members to urge supporters to contact legislators and back an online petition. Their second album, Lose All Time, arrived in March 2007.
Extensive road work across Canada and Europe after the release nearly dissolved the group. A fruitful 2008 visit to Japan and China restored momentum; once personal matters were settled, the musicians reconvened to record 2010's XXXX. Tragedy struck on 17 April 2010 when drummer Devon Clifford collapsed onstage in Vancouver and died. Following months of reflection and the conviction that Clifford would have wished them to persist, the remaining members—now without Krista Loewen, who stepped away from performing—adopted the shortened name You Say Party. Keyboardist Robert Andow and drummer Bobby Siadat, both formerly of Gang Violence, joined the lineup as touring resumed.
After concerts in the U.K., the band issued the remix collection REMIXXXX and a split single with the Duloks, then entered hiatus roughly a year after Clifford's passing. The pause ended just over twelve months later when Loewen rejoined; the quartet released the Clifford tribute single "Friend." Performing with a drum machine and cultivating a murkier, atmospheric palette, the group unveiled its self-titled fourth album in early 2016.
Albums
