The Death Set
Australian noise rock trio the Death Set fuse a punk rock approach with experimental, genre-bending production, often bringing electronic elements to their chaotic, high-energy songs. The band changed their home base frequently in their early days, leaving Australia shortly after their 2005 formation and setting up shop for a year or so in Baltimore, Philadephia, and Brooklyn. The Death Set was highly active throughout the 2000s and the start of the 2010s, remaining productive throughout all their moves and even through the death of a founding member. A relatively silent stretch after 2011's Michel Poiccard was broken in 2021 with the release of fourth album How to Tune a Parrot.
Though Death Set founders Beau Velasco and Johnny Siera were both aware of one another growing up in Gold Coast, Australia's relatively small music scene, it wasn't until Siera saw Velasco playing his guitar and thrashing about in the local band Black Panda that he knew he wanted to be friends. But it was Velasco, in fact, who asked Siera to join Black Panda on guitar, and when the other members dropped out because of other commitments, the two decided to continue as a duo. After touring Australia's East Coast with the similarly minded Brooklyn duo Japanther, the two were inspired to move to Sydney, where they worked on writing and recording their own music, which consisted of their guitars, keyboards, and tinny laptop beats with the vocals sung through microphones Velasco had rigged up. Calling themselves the Death Set, they eventually decided they should move to the U.S., and after a brief stint in Brooklyn, settled on the city of Baltimore. Their self-released debut EP, To (the majority of which was written in Sydney), caught the ear of Morphius Records, which reissued it in 2006. The following year, Rad Warehouses Bad Neighborhoods came out, and in the spring of 2008 the Death Set, which at this point consisted of Siera and guitarist/vocalist Peter O'Connell with the help of a rotating cast of drummers, issued Worldwide (which Velasco did appear on) on Ninja Tune's rock imprint Counter Records. The following year the band was shocked by the news that founder Velasco had passed away. Jahphet Landis was recruited to fill the gap left behind, and the band set to work on their third album, Michel Poiccard, which was released early in 2011. The band's 2014 EP, King Babies, would be their last release for several years, and they reshuffled membership once again. In 2021, now consisting of Siera, Daniel Walker, and William Broussard, the Death Set issued their fourth studio full-length, How to Tune a Parrot.
© Marisa Brown /TiVo
Discography
13 album(s) • Sorted by Bestseller
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Can You Seen Straight?
Pop/Rock - Released by Counter Records on Jun 13, 2011
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Michel Poiccard
Pop/Rock - Released by Counter Records on Feb 28, 2011
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Negative Thinking EP
Pop/Rock - Released by Counter Records on Feb 8, 2008
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
King Babies EP
Alternative & Indie - Released by Dim Mak Records on Jan 21, 2014
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
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Rad Warehouses To Bad Neighborhoods (Redux)
Pop/Rock - Released by Counter on Jun 19, 2007
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
We Are Going Anywhere Man
Pop/Rock - Released by Counter Records on Apr 4, 2011
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Slap Slap Slap Pound Up Down Snap
Pop/Rock - Released by Counter Records on Jan 10, 2011
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Worldwide
Pop/Rock - Released by Counter Records on Mar 25, 2008
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
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P.O.V. 2.0 (feat. Diplo)
Dance - Released by Dim Mak Records on Jun 4, 2013
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
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