Reviews

Destructure

Années Zero Nique EP

Heavy hardcore punk with a bit of a creepy deathrock undertow. Growly vocals, accented with reverb, drive the songs with unstoppable energy and there are enough intelligible riffs and dynamic changes to keep things interesting. This record expands on what could easily be a formula for punk songs—short, angry verses over repeating guitar chord progressions—but it is so much more than that. Incorporating the occasional melodic, chorus-drenched guitar lead or unusual rhythm changes brings in a ton of nuance and keeps it sounding exciting and fresh. Definitely recommended. Record comes with cool fold-out poster artwork.

Bitpart Eat Your Mess LP

Emo-ish pop punk from France. The whole time listening to this album something was bugging me. I couldn’t figure it out. The feeling got worse as the two singers harmonized. Then I realized what it was. They reminded me of a certain band, but for the life of me I couldn’t place it. Finally it came to me. This band sounds like the ANNIVERSARY minus the keyboards. I dunno, maybe it’s just me, but this just sounds dated. That’s not meant as a slight, it’s good, it just sounds like a certain time and place, that’s all.

Bleakness Functionally Extinct LP

The bleak piano intro sets the stage for darkness to come. Uneasy melodies and a sense of melancholy play the leading role on Functionally Extinct, while steady and catchy hardcore punk serves as a backdrop for this post-punk outfit. BLEAKNESS couldn’t have chosen a better band name. This a great modern French post-punk record sure to brighten (or darken) your days.

Bleakness A World To Rebuild 12″

A downbeat set of six from Lyon, France’s BLEAKNESS. At times sounding straight post-punk, then goth, and then almost new wave, particularly on the two synth-heavy “remixes” of songs that came off their debut LP Functionally Extinct. Within that range, and what I think gives theme to the whole piece, is Nico’s heavy, coarse vocals. Ultimately, the two-tone album cover and their name say it all.

Bombardement Bombardement LP

Bordeaux’s finest purveyors of chaos BOMBARDEMENT drop a huge-ass atomic bomb in the form of this self-titled LP. This is pure D-beat in a DISCLOSE-meets-MEANWHILE fashion with the classic DIS- formula in place, with nods to The More I See-era in songs like “Warriors Of The Night.” The sound is not too clean, nor too ear-shattering, just the perfect balance of “noise not music.” Eight tracks of pummeling dis-beat with viciously angry vocals, a precise rhythm section, and anthemic guitar leads. Coming hot from above!

Bombardement Le Futur Est Là LP

When I reviewed the BOMBARDEMENT EP last month, I never saw this monster follow-up LP coming. On Le Futur Est Là, the band simultaneously pays great honor to and transcends traditional DISCHARGE-worship with their sharp and calculated panache. The guitar on this record gets increasingly bonkers as it goes on, soloing us all straight to hell with smiles on our faces. Hailing from the beautiful, wine-drunk city of Bordeaux, BOMBARDEMENT picks up on elements of the sound that most other D-enizens have neglected, such as the pared-down primitive menace and background cacophony of “Poison” and the build-up of chaos on “Predateur.” On top of all this madness, you can hear the singer literally throwing her entire soul into every performance. The best part is, it kinda feels like they’re just getting started. I haven’t been able to stop listening to this. It’s A+ shit, kids. The future is here, indeed.

Deletär Deletär LP

This full-length LP from Saint-Étienne’s DELETÄR is teeth-ripping hardcore punk in the Swedish style of hardcore à la TOTALITÄR to NO SECURITY, with an epicness in the still yet-to-be-burning-spirits of Chelsea’s guitar leads and a CAMERA SILENS-like triumphant sing-along vocal style at times. Within the tracks of controlled chaos, very well-crafted catchy riffs flow throughout the songs in a fierce, non-stop bombardment attack. Plummeting full-drive drums attack with maniacal yet still catchy vocals that will make you raise the fist and sing along. While referencing the aforementioned bands, the sound is original—they’ve got all the right influences from good bands and still made this sound into their own. My favorite release of the year.

Hondartzako Hondakinak Bruiarta 12″

Terrible album cover—sorry, I bet a lot of efforts were invested into it, but even if I do appreciate some forms of landscape art this is still off-putting. I knew HONDARTZAKO HONDAKINAK already, enjoyed their previous 7″ and i was glad for crazy hardcore coming out from France. It might be a concept to place alienating elements as first and second impressions because the pointless and gawky intro, with an artificial-theme attempt just aggravated my confusion. Suffer it through, it all worth it because this chute slides you into a pool of sonic madness that recalls Dutch hardcore bands who mixed melody and neckbreak speed fluently well, such as JEZUS AND THE GOSPELFUCKERS, the BLOEDBAD/JETSET split or early FUNERAL ORATION. On this record speed becomes an effect, at its best shape the pace reaches a level when it sounds duplicated and inexact, which generates beautiful disturbance. Then they slow down but unlike in their intro, they can maintain the tension built previously by speed, and the swirling gravity of their songs capture all your attention. When they stomp with the beat, the guitar still wanders off to tangle riff fragments and create entertaining randomness. By melody, imagine even harsher tunes than the fastest HÜSKER DÜ tracks, something close to early OUTPATIENTS. HONDARTZAKO HONDAKINAK is a unique band with a broad spectrum of musical ideas and great skills to incorporate them to create something new, instead of a mix of multiple, and navigate their music around all genre rules. All checked out for a great record.

Kronstadt Quai de l’Ouest LP

Lille punks KRONSTADT return for their second LP, bringing with them a more expansive, melodic sound and ambition along with them. Like their compatriots LITOVSK and SYNDROME 81 I suppose it is ostensibly Oi!-adjacent, but there’s a not insignificant dose of post-punk sheen on this release; a lot of the rough edges have been knocked off which is where, unfortunately, I find a lot of the charm. It’s perfectly good enough, serviceable punk but just slightly too polished for yours truly.

Litige En Eaux Troubles LP

This is the third release from Lyon, France’s LITIGE. A ten-song escapade, this album is loaded with nostalgic, at times melancholy, melodic punk. Think early FASTBACKS, or the STOPS—driving mid-tempo with winding lead guitar melodies sailing over heavy riffs. Lyrics oscillate from French to English, and themes range from “Nique Tout” (“fuck everything”) to “Remue-méninges” (a method of generating new thoughts and ideas). Yep, that pretty much covers it.

Litovsk Litovsk 12″

France’s LITOVSK has released a beautifully packaged slice of life on their new self-titled 12″. Playing crisp and clean melodic post-punk with shimmering guitars and nasally vocals, LITOVSK recalls bands like MISSION OF BURMA and the REPLACEMENTS, and would fit quite nicely on a bill with contemporaries MIDDLEMAN. Lyrics range from socio-political themes like nationalism and chauvinism to themes of heartache and longing, most notably on “Riverside,” a sparkling ode to childhood in a poor town where riding mopeds and attending soccer matches distracted from the mundanity of life. Heartfelt and sincere, LITOVSK delivers a satisfyingly introspective listen.

Mary Bell Bellatrix Boadicea LP

Grunge-infused feminist punk by way of Paris, France, with definite notes of BIKINI KILL, SLEATER-KINNEY, and similar bands of the American Northwest riot grrrl scene. It’s tough to paint this group with too broad a brush genre-wise; there are moments on this record that recall late ’70s punk and ’80s new wave, too. Moods range from playful to ferocious to introspective. At a solid fourteen songs, it’s clear this band has a lot to communicate with this record, and I think they succeed in that.

Mary Bell Cerbero LP

Third LP (and the fifth release) from Paris’s MARY BELL, blaring out thirteen tracks of riot grrrl, grunge-laden aggression. Staccato guitar leads like you’d find from SLEATER-KINNEY with a super fuzzy rhythm guitar and a robust, gut-churning bass. Vocals vary from the sweeter side on “Watch Me Disappear” with a ’60s girl group influence, to more strained and typical of the genre on “Inferno.” American foresisters of the ’80s and ’90s would be proud, as Cerbero’s venom is just as potent. To give an example of the group’s serious, feminist intent, they take their name from a violently abused English girl, who went on to be England’s youngest killer in 1968. The point to be taken clearly is not the latter statistic, but rather to abhor the neglect, sexual abuse, and violence that catalyzed such behavior to begin with. If this dark, historic reference doesn’t sober you to the truth, try out “Viaggio,” it builds to quite the ripper.

Meat Shirt Army of Dolphins EP

French punks who take the risky approach of throwing different styles at the wall to see what sticks, with surprisingly strong results. The first few tracks have a straight-ahead USHC sound with shouted vocals and chord progressions that sound like early BLACK FLAG. There are hints of other things going on as well though, such as gang vocals on “Sugar” and “Watching You!” that evoke the melodic youth crew of INSTED. Layers of guitars build into alt/psych walls on “Burning Bilderburg” and the ending of “Watching You!,” and “Army of Dolphins” is a flanged-out psych swirl that is as satisfying as it is bewildering among the surrounding hardcore. I am usually wary of bands incorporating too much into their sound to the point that it thins out the overall effect, but MEAT SHIRT does it right and delivers a compelling EP.

Shock Futur Noir EP

I swear, some of my favorite hardcore records of the past few years have come from France, and Bordeaux’s SHOCK doesn’t disappoint. Heavy NYHC influence on this five-song EP, as well as some clear influence from NEGATIVE APPROACH, and maybe even BOSTON STRANGLER. Lots of driving riffs, a couple banging breakdowns on “Futur Noir,” “Nuit de Brouillard,” and the three-minute “Guirre a la Guerre,” and some cool effects sprinkled in here and there.

Syndrome 81 Prisons Imaginaires LP

SYNDROME 81 stands apart from the majority of their contemporaries in the Oi! scene, taking as much inspiration from latter-era BLITZ or even ROSE OF VICTORY as they do CAMERA SILENS or TROTSKIDS. This darker, solemn take on the genre with touches and flourishes of deathrock and post-punk is a bit of a palate cleanser compared to some of the more tedious caricatures that the Sambas-and-camo-shorts mob farts out semi-regularly, and on their debut full-length they sound tighter and more fully-realised then ever before. Punchy and anthemic, this has the potential to be one of the best releases of the year.

Zone Infinie Dégats EP

Saint-Étienne-based rock urbain outfit ZONE INFINIE is back with a new EP of soaring melodic streetpunk. Like their contemporaries SYNDROME 81 and LITOVSK, their post-punk flourishes temper the gruffness one normally associates with the scruffy bastards in streetpunk, and these nuances only help to add some light and shade to the proceedings. It’s a pleasantly mixed bag, especially for a genre that can lend itself to one-notedness too, with cacophonous drums and spartan guitarlines accompanying the more recognisably streetpunky vocals too. Worth a go.