Lose All Time

Album Review

Providing more of the same as their debut album in the best possible sense, Lose All Time cements British Columbia's You Say Party! We Say Die! as one of the most consistently enjoyable acts of the neo-new wave, even despite their terrible name. With their combination of Becky Ninkovic's yowling, bratty lead vocals and Krista Loewen's unapologetically cheesy keyboards, the majority of Lose All Time passes by in a blur of thumping dance-rock tunes highly indebted to the twin towers of the Athens, GA, new wave set, Pylon and the B-52's. However, the haunting piano-and-voice ballad "You're Almost There" provides an effective breather amidst all the nervy dancefloor fillers, and the closing "Quiet World" has a hypnotic pulse akin to the best work of the often underrated Martha & the Muffins. A more consistent and thoughtful release than 2006's Hit the Floor!, which got over in part because of the band's infectious sense of fun and enthusiasm, Lose All Time is a genuinely terrific album showing that You Say Party! We Say Die! may be one of the few bands in the retro-new wave scene with the talent to last beyond their pop cultural moment.