Zero Ain't That Mayhem?

CD digisleeve. 2LP gatefold + dl card. The Lyon band's recent collaborations with Virginie Despentes and Batrice Dalle put them in the spotlight they deserved but this is just the latest chapter of a story started when they were young more than 25 years ago by Eric Alda and the drummer Franck Laurino. In the Deity Guns (89-93) and Bstard (93-98) and in a handful of albums (including productions by Lee Ranaldo of Sonic Youth or Andy Briant de Tortoise*), they were simply the pioneers of post-rock in France. And yet the chapter that arrives today almost resembles the "debut album" of a young band shot through with a fiery and insatiable desire to take on the world. A complex, distressing and oppressive world which is nonetheless rich in its very confusion. "Isn't it all a bit of a mess" seems to be suggested by the title of this new album "Is not That Mayhem and its striking post-apocalyptic graphic art. There are no limits and who cares what tools, sounds and instruments are used There is trombone on the insistent instrumental We Blew It and even a kind of liturgical organ at the end of Five vs Six. The whole album catches hold of you with its hypnotic layering (Deranged, Myself as a Fool), a chorus in unstable equilibrium (Fake From The Start), an unstoppable rhythm (Marathon Woman walking force), a singular tone of voice (the almost blues-like Alligator Wine borrowed from Screamin' Jay Hawkins), a guitar riff as simple as a tree that hides the forest of variations, advancing from behind to play with neurons and sensations (Recife, 1974 ) ... Just like the old. Tracklisting : A1/ Adios Texas A2/ The Kung Fu Song A3/ Marathon Woman B1/ Underwater Frequencies B2/ Deranged B3/ 8-Bit Crash Can B4/ Fake From The Start C1/ We Blew It C2/ Five vs Six C3/ Myself As A Fool C4/ Recife, 1974 D1/ Alligator Wine [Screamin' Jay Hawkins cover] D2/ San Francisco II D3/ Yawny Holiday