"Anyone paying attention to Death to Our Enemies' recent self-titled Learning Curve Records release will hear a band torn from the tattered cloth of punk forbearers the Misfits and the Stooges, bleached and weathered by the frantic sincerity of early-'90s stalwarts like Nirvana and Mudhoney. It is a headbanger of an album, wrought with devotion and sarcasm, slacker sentimentality and pure ambition. Those extremes complement the music, give it authenticity."
-City Pages [read more]
"The images that singer /guitarist Matt Coffee chose to adorn the album art of his band's self titled debut say a lot about the disc itself: a Rocket, wolves, switchblades. Death To Our Enemies are not particularly black or evil song titles "Karate Bike" and "Deadly Art of Ninja" hardly seem intended terrify. But they do have a distinctly metal bent, in the same way that nineties stalwarts like Nirvana (at least bleach) and L7 married razor-sharp guitars to other keen melodic sensibility. Their debut is an unmistakably garage-y effort opener "Secret Handshake" begins with chunky, picked bass, but in the background, coffee's guitar buzzes like it's waiting to strike. This is not a band that is in to crafting layers of texture they're a power trio, and there's little beyond the occasional overdubbed solo or acoustic guitar here. Their single-minded devotion to guitar, bass, drums, and howling vocals is admirable, since it makes the moments when they stretch into more impressionistic terrain, as one of the delay drenched " Robot Robot" all the more impractial. When the current musical infatuation with the eighties is over, Death to Our Enemies will be primed and ready for the nineties revival."
-Skyscraper Magazine #27
[Translation]
Damn, words are failing me. what can you say to a record with music that makes classification almost impossible. Sure, the fondness for dirt and noise are like a red thread through every one of the ten songs, but otherwise DEATH TO OUR ENEMIES put their ideas in places that don't have anything in common at first glance. So it is even more amazing that it works and that there is no impression of an uninspired collage. The three musicians from minneapolis manage easily to convey the whole spectrum from "hanging around" to "exhilarated" with the help of their musical preferences (and there's lot's of those). at the same time they put in lots of surprises to keep one's attention. Pieces, that seem to be structured rather simply, grow in their appeal and itensity with every further listening. One thing is clear: DEATH TO OUR ENEMIES are not normal. But they released a debut that is unequaled in its form.
-Lars Koch, OX-FANZINE (Germany)
"You instantly hear the influence of the Rolling Stones and Nirvana throughout the self-titled Death to Our Enemies record. A trio of rock fanatics, Death to Our Enemies pummels you with their fist-pumping anthems of cocked-and-ready rock n roll steeped heavily in garage rock and grunge. Hot and steamy guitars glisten with distorted melodies and churning harmonies. Loud and with a nod towards garage punk, the album is not for the faint of heart."
-smother.net
"Although your first impression might be (like ours) to lump these guys in with thousands of other modern hard rock bands...if you will give their music a bit of time and attention you are likely to warm up to their sound. Even though the tracks on this album are hard rockers, the band infuses their music with enough poppy hooks to keep you coming back for more. The songs are basic and simple...delivered without unnecessary instruments and overdubs. As such, the songs tend to pack a real genuine punch. But the songs are the real meat here...and there are plenty of cool rockers to be found. Ten kickass tracks including "Secret Handshake," "Karate Bike," "Choke On It," and "Robot Robot." All are simultaneously intense and memorable. Neat stuff, well executed."
-Babysue: LMNOP Fingerish Reviews - October 2007
"I hereby nominate garage trio Death to Our Enemies as the Band Most
Likely to Fill the Vast Empty Space that the Midnight Evils Left Behind
(with all due consideration to Chooglin'). There were too many groovy
nuggets to mention, but--like a sack of gerbils--it was squirmy and
biting all around. The set peaked whem singer-guitarist Matt Coffee
declared, "the only place past outer space is outside of outer space"
thereupon launching into an echoplex guitar jam that ping-ponged
across our brainpan like that last Hawkwind summit."
-City Pages
"Death to Our Enemies proudly turn their amps to 11 while mixing the most
raw forms of power pop, big .70s rock, Please Kill Me punk, and
suddenly-refreshingly-classic grunge. And they play as if on a mission to
drench the flickering flame of rock with a gallon of gasoline."
-The Pulse
"Enemies are votary feedback wizards and reverberated fuzztone demagogues.
They ride that razor's edge of punk-rock, but slice themselves slithering
along heavy metal. They have a pair of Sex Pistols pointed straight at Mars
Volta with Dick Dale holding the trigger. They spend every weekend now in
smoke filled bars, traveling, and trying to make it. Where? How far?"
-Reader Weekly
"I think those boys are really sexy!"
-Your Mom