With their signing to VICE guaranteeing increased exposure of this awesomely married bass and drums duo, a certain Death From Above has been mentioned more than a few times in press relating to the Lullabyes. But if these two remind me of anyone wielding four strings and some cylinders in the name of rock, it's now-defunct, deliciously ridiculous Fargo, ND BMX-noise freaks godheadSilo. While DFA1979 were basically locked-in heavy dance rock (effectively foreshadowing Jesse Keller's future in MSTRKRFT), GHS played rock as though they were in the midst of a grand mal seizure. Lullabye Arkestra share this kind of reckless nature, and much of it starts with the drumming of Justin Small—although much improved, Justin is still a loose drummer, inspired to follow tempo in the most primal of ways, resulting in music that stalks with seasick determination, like the Terminator if he was drunk.
Over top of this shifty structure is then laid slab after slab of molten bass riffage. Kat Taylor-Small is viciously skilled on her instrument, and the combined effect is relentlessly fun and thrilling—kind of like godheadSilo. But the ace up Lullabye's sleeve is the fact that these two are married, which, rather than being some coy novelty, is maybe the most compelling thing about them. That's because Justin and Kat play music and sing like they're falling in love, over and over again, in the most carnal, violent, and honest ways possible. They're the coolest rock couple since Jon Spencer and Christina Martinez, and us Torontonians are damn lucky to call them our own.