I Feeling Of Love sono, assieme a Cheveu e Crash Normal, la punta di diamante dell’avant-garage d’oltralpe. Quella che qualcuno chiama pure glue wave, tanto per non farsi mancare l’ennesimo opinabile nomignolo. Inizialmente un progetto (semi) solista del cantante/chitarrista Guillaume, i TFOL rilasciano Petit Tu Es Un Hit per la Yakisakana nel 2008 non facendo mistero dell’amore per Gories, Doo Rag e il Jon Spencer più ruvido. Nel lasso di tempo che intercorre tra il primo e il secondo disco, la formazione si allarga a tre membri, con un synth a dare il groove che mancava in precedenza. Ne esce un sound rinnovato : ancora intriganti ipnosi blues (Young Jesus) potenziate dalla line-up attuale (Night Cold Dance) ed ancora isterismi di casa (Better Than A Dog Detective). Poi una novità : metà dell’album occupato da tracce più lente, soffuse, non meno paranoiche o demenziali. Beyond The Dirt, Going Back To The Nineties, Leader Of The Cops e God Willing guardano indietro al passato dei Velvet Underground prima e Monochrome Set dopo. Acquisto a scatola chiusa.
Andrea Napoli / sentire ascoltare

Place au n° 1 de l’année (lapsus révélateur ?) du mois ... Très félin, très rock, et surtout, comme le laissent supposer son nom et son titre, très français ... J’ai découvert et écouté ce disque, OK Judge Revival, les oreilles et le cerveau complètement vierges.
La pochette me plaisait bien, il était accessible. Alors, pourquoi pas ?
Ce n’est qu’après la troisième écoute consécutive que j’ai décidé de partir à la pêche aux infos.
J’étais (et suis toujours) comme hypnotisé par la succession de ces morceaux dont l’ambiance rock et sombre très années 70 m’évoquait tour à tour The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, The Velvet Underground (fantastique God Willing, entre autres), Pussy Galore, Suicide ... et même les papys rollingstoniens (le riff de guitare de Going’ Back to the Nineties sonne en effet très Let’s spend the night together).
http://jazzbluesandco.over-blog.com

This is a concept record, right ? There’s some grade A (almost to the point of being scary) hero worship going on that the FBI might wanna’ look into. These Frenchies that named themselves after a Blues Explosion song have now gone and released a record dedicated to all things Cafritz. Those following the band over the years might recall they already had a song called "Julie C" on a previous 45. If you don’t know who she is/was...there ain’t really a reason for me to continue. Serious stalker shit is taken to the next level here with bastardized ’Corpse Love’ artwork and even more “Julie-isms” within. "The Way to Suck" is a mean spirited romp thru Pussy Galore’s "Die Bitch" riffs and "Trashcan Oil Drum" breaks, regurgitated, twisted and spat out over some even harsher feedback. I’m sold on this one. Originality may be moot, but screw it...I love this tune. That tune. Those tunes. All. "Soul Track" (a title ya’d think Jon Spencer had to have used already) is a repetitive clanker that could be an early Action Swingers recording...but it’s not. See where this is going ? Bluesy and brutal in delivery. In the red drumming chugs it all along nicely. Wrappin’ it up is thee actual cover song ; "I Hate Porn" originally by Halo of Kitten. Yes, the HAZE and Free Kitten collaboration from the AmRep Nineties. ‘Cept this time it’s given the glue-wave treatment and makes you think of Cheveu or something arty. Funny how this cover is the least recognizable of the three tunes. I’m telling you, a concept ! And it’s the kind of concept I endorse wholeheartedly. B-side is a big ass etched pentagram with other splattery goodness involved. More songs would’ve been nice...but they had to exorcise these certain demons in a solo manifestation, I suppose. Understandable. It’s therapeutic. A solid hit for the folks who miss their scum rockin’ NY years. I’m teasin’ my hair and thinking about shooting up as I type.
RSF - terminal boredom

Sitôt acheté, sitôt écouté, sitôt chroniqué. Ceux qui ont besoin de trente-cinq passages pour analyser un riff sont des freaks. Des malades des nerfs. Des ratés. Des râteaux. Trois nouveaux titres ultra bruitistes et barrés, comme si Guillaume s’était coincé la bite dans son capodastre et avait ressenti le besoin de retranscrire cette douleur en musique. The Way To Suck met déjà sur la voie : le rock est brutal mais catchy. Les gimmicks de guitare y sont grandioses. Soul Track, en revanche, c’est du BOTCH croisé à du BOB LOG 3. Ultra violent. Le disque se termine sur un I Hate Porn (reprise de FREE KITTEN) absurde, tellement à l’opposé de la déflagration précédente. Bel artwork et sublime gravure en face B. A Metz, on se fout pas de votre gueule.
pretentious assholes

"Ugly people making ugly things" starts the final track "I Hate Porn" on the FEELING OF LOVE’s latest EP Suck/Soul/Porn, and it couldn’t be farther from the truth. The Feeling of Love is beautiful people making beautiful noise. While the French trio’s band name conjures up images of long walks on the beach, holding hands, and everything beautiful in this world their music evokes filth, raw emotions, and chaos. The opening track "The Way To Suck" is an ass-kicking bluesy-garage rocker with a badass guitar riff. The easy way out is to compare the track to anything by Blues Explosion ; yet Jon Spencer could never dream of being this frenetic. "Soul Track" isn’t a soul song but it has a lot of soul. It’s an absolutely-in-control wall of noise. The aforementioned "I Hate Porn" features the more electronic side of the group, but it isn’t about backbeats or samples. It’s about a drum machine and 93 seconds of rock. The Feeling of Love is severely underrated and continue to get better with every passing release. At just over 7 minutes long, this three-song EP doesn’t waste time in making its point and I won’t either. Do yourself a favor and buy Suck/Soul/Porn right now.”-Jordan Smith. Extremely brutal on the A-side, B-side features an etching.
Midheaven (HBSP-2X Records // www.hbsp-2x.com)

I thought I only needed one French punk band who uses a “people holding guns who shouldn’t” cover photo in my life, that is until I heard “Waiting For The Cheerleaders To Get Drunk”. I also kinda hoped The Feeling Of Love sounded like a 50/50 mix of the Feelers and Tunnel Of Love, and while it’s not completely off the mark, The Feeling Of Love are most certainly on a higher level. They seem to approach their music with the same nonchalance and grit of fellow Frenchmen The Anals (whose catalog I celebrate), but their songs carry a tunefulness that allows their casual hooks to fully ripen. “Waiting For The Cheerleaders” is clearly the hit, punk rock with a boogie and a chorus that bears repeating over and over. It helps that I can really picture these guys living out that title, just hanging out under the bleachers smoking cigarettes in stained t-shirts. The b-side has a nice riff that reminds me of Excelsior in some distant way, although they take things in a much more playful direction. Impressive all around.
http://www.yellowgreenred.com/

Encore une sortie pour les stakhanovistes de Feeling Of Love qui livrent deux nouveaux excellents titres sur ce 45t sorti chez Avant Records. Au dehors, côté face, un artwork plus subversif qu’un pentacle ensanglanté, représentant un bambin rigolard posant avec son papy, accroupi, fusil en main. La photo de famille est digne de celle de l’album d’AH Kraken et c’est pas anormal puisque les deux groupes ont au moins un membre en commun. Toujours au dehors mais côté pile, les infos élémentaires : enregistrement par Phil Scrotum en août 2008, formation en triplette et pour les initiés, le logo de la Triple Alliance de l’Est ( la famille, toujours la famille..), sorte de croix de Lorraine mal barrée. Et au-dedans ? Du pur Feeling Of Love c’est-à-dire du bon vieux blues décati par un son lo-fi, dégénéré par une énergie résolument punk et perverti par les frimas de l’est, un peu comme si Jon Spencer avait quitté NY pour migrer chez les ploucs. C’est artisanal, chaotique, inspiré et au moins aussi vicieux que le papy armé de la pochette, avec en prime, quelques sonorités qui ne sont pas sans rappeler le Velvet Underground, notamment sur l’excellentissime Waiting For The Cheerleaders To Get Drunk. En bref, du très beau boulot, comme d’habitude.
www.nextclues.com

First new vinyl action from FoL after their wax assault from a year or so ago. I always held them in high regard amongst their French brethren, as I felt they brought a certain sick sense of humor to the table, and their penchant for referencing (and equally skewering and loving) American pop culture (from Michael Jordan to Julia Cafritz) made them more entertaining than many of their contemporaries. "...Cheerleaders..." works itself into a sick drone, rising for the chorus a bit, an adult Frenchman waxing about perhaps hanging out under the bleachers smoking brown cigarettes or lurking the periphery of cool-clique high school parties waiting...lurking is a good descriptive for this one. It never really completey rises or falls, just lurks there, not really being totally creepy but not being un-creepy either. Subdued and uncomfortably rocking. Flipside is "What’s Your Name ? Who’s Your Daddy ?", twisting The Zombies into something full of slide-guitar accented skeeviness. I was kind of burnt on this band by the time their LP hit last year, but this is a good shot to remind me I like their style far more than some of their countrymen getting bigger hype.
RK - terminal boredom

The Anals were Benoit and Nafi. Hailing from Metz, France, home to a ridiculous number of genre-bending bands, most of which they play in (like A.H Kraken, Electric Guitars, The Dreams, Plastobeton, Scorpion Violente, Funk Police, and more), this is their first (and only ?) 7" and it’s an ass reamer. Taking the sheer repetitive brutality of a band like the Brainbombs and meshing it with the trance-like drone of a band like Suicide, these two songs have the guitars, drums, and synths all set to attack, and are not for the faint of heart. Sadly, in late 2007 Benoit passed away and now The Anals are done.
Jeff - sweet rot records

Debut, and quite possibly only, release from this two-piece digital-punk band from the wild streets of Metz, France. The tragic story is that one-half of this band (Benoit) passed away in late 2007, leaving this batch of recordings out of which Sweet Rot cherry-picked this single, although I’ve heard much of their output via CDR and this seems to be just the tip of the old iceberg. With links to AH Kraken and Electric Guitars and part of Le Grande Triple Alliance Internationalle de L’Est , whose triple pronged cross logo you’ve probably noticed on records by Feeling of Love, Normals (Seb Normal handled the recording on this) and other French genre-benders. "Commando of Love" is a synth-droner that tells a story of love in WWII. "Wake Up You’re Dead" fills the flipside with a digital take on relentless Brainbombs-like beat-hammering awash with freeform guitar damage and desperate vocals. For fans of the more evil side of French gluewave. Scum stats : first 100 on white, the other 400 on black. Sweet Rot scores major points with this last batch of sleeves as well, wonderful glued pockets on textured paper with stark b&w art.
(RK - Terminal Boredom)

Out of Metz, France, comes the ugly and brutal noize punk of A.H. Kraken. Their name is an amalgam of a facist dictator and a sea monster and their sound is a wild, intense blur of bludgeoning rhythms, industrial clatter, scraping guitars and caterwauling vocals. Citing influences as disparate PIL, Motorhead, US Maple, Suicide, Flipper, The Shaggs and Chrome, A.H. Kraken sound as if they are about to implode or explode at any given second at all times. With all lyrics yelled in barely intelligible French, itís impossible for me to say what theyíre bellowing on about, though one song is titled Kevin Costner. When bassist/vocalist S.J. was asked about the lyrics he assured that they are ìall about peace and loveî. I donít believe him.
A.H Kraken are pure, unrestrained throttle burn. They create landscapes of sound with instruments that are obviously getting the shit beat out of them. This is mega-decibel audio destruction at itís most overwrought. This is not for the faint of heart.
For fans of the Brainbombs, Drunks With Guns and Pussy Galore.
Larry, In The Red Records

Le hasard fait bien les choses, surtout à Metz, dans les bois de Metz je veux dire, dans l’univers barré d’un DILLS, d’un Montigny qu’est autant de Metz que Jean Paul 2 roule en mob. Cette région qui mine fait bien les choses, elle sait frapper les rails pour entendre le train qui passe au loin, elle te créée des endroits de liberté où le rock chanté en francais est coutumier, elle te créée un monde francais où la noise est enfermée au fourneau, tabassée au marteau, enclumée à la niaule et parrainée par les notables du coin, tout de cuir vétus, ou alors en salopette... Sauf que les notables du coin c’est IN THE RED, soit disant le label de John Spencer lui même. Dans le rouge. Voui voui. Ce n’est plus de la niaule, mais du rouge, qui tâche, qui tache tellement bien que la musique martelle fort, qu’elle saoule son monde à ne pas vouloir croiser les jambes. Main dans la main, on se demande d’où sort ce titre, d’où sort cette voix moisie à l’eau de GORDZ ou au petit cul de LUCIE VACARME. J’aime le perfecto bien saillant comme d’autre la blondasse au fusil. C’est papa qui prend la photo. J’imagine des trucs. Un groupe de dix ans d’âge, de la fin des 90ies (quatrevingtdize) au plus prêt d’un DEITY GUNS acéré, au plus apte au bon goût des noiseux ou des no waveux, crache, prétendant au podium 2008 et surtout au plus proche du fait divers saignant commis par un sadique à moitié poignant et qu’aurait eu un père chasseur, ou photographe, ou les deux... Question subsidiaire : pourquoi benoit est il en rouge ?
Erwan / Sans tambours ni Trompette - http://www.stnt.org

— - ENGLICH

In the realm of minimal membered blooze-trash punk combos the Feeling Of Love are in a world of their own. The expected blown speaker fidelity that has become the bread and butter for such acts is a plenty here but instead of just sticking with the purist of tricks and hating on any audio effect used after 1964 the Feeling Of Love store such things in their stock of sonic arsenal ’cuz ya never know when they come in handy. From oily slide guitar number that question why oh why are they making up yet another oily slide guitar numbers to drunk tomcats with junkshop guitars with their string action set way to high taking a stab at recreating electrosynth riffs on them to dizzy caveman spinning around in a circle til they’re dizzy bits the usual box such bands chose to stand in is soaked by the rain and loose at the seams. It falls all apart leaving everything open and the Feeling Of Love can’t resist such wanderlust. They roam far from the standard Buddy Holly or Jimmy Reed type hook and the end up in a lot of more interesting places because of it. For every movie buff out there that envisions a remake they’d like to make of a Clint Eastwood spaghetti western-forget about hiring some junior Morricone to do the soundtrack and hire the Movie Star Junkies instead. Yeah, the name is a reason to shy from wanting to check them out cuz it does sound like a name that some Scandinavian ironic Guns-n-Rose tribute act would christen themselves but this Italian band has the proper reverberation and dusty haze that just seems natural. It’s not all about that expansive twaaaang with them though. They ain’t afraid to scream and yell not to mention turn everything up into a redlining hiss when it’s called for either. If Jon Spencer and Matt Verta-Ray decided to do a third Heavy Trash record and heard the Movie Star Junkies during the planning stages of it both of them would delete the Sadies names from their phone list and be making international calls to Turin working on plans to get these guys into a New York City studio with ’em up.
(Dale/ Smaching Transistor)

Feeling of Love may very well be one of the most under-rated acts out there these days, but it seems they’re starting to get their due...a two-piece on this platter (with G adding Seb Normal’s presence on most of the cuts), FOL bring back best of Nineties-garage-blues (Oblivians, JSBX, and Doo Rag at their finest) without the stench of revisionism, updating those styles with a Pussy Galore-like slop of noise and a healthy dose of acerbic wit. Guitars alternately slide and slash, keyboards get punched and stepped on amid the fray, Frenchmen sneer and whoop at you, drums boom and then turn coffe-can hollow...they run blues-trash through the gauntlet and come out the other side reborn as some snarling beast. One of these tunes sounds like the Bassholes if they were on AmRep. Others sound like Spencer, if he were REALLY a bad ass and not just pretending. The best song titles ever and gratuitous use of the word pussy just ratchet the entertainment value up a few clicks. "The Way to Suck" ? Beautiful, like a cranked-up Bob Log fronting Unsane ! "Rapeman Blues" throws another pigfuck namedrop out there (remember that Julie Cafritz song ?). There’s so much I love about this band right now. Invigorating music. Cheveu may be everyone’s current French darlings, but Feeling of Love hold the keys to my heart. Buy all of their records now if you haven’t already. Movie Star Junkies are from Italy, making this a cross-country Euro effort. Never heard them before this, but they seem to pair up with FOL pretty well. Baritone sax bleats accompany a few differing styles...first track is a lazy blues meander, "Cleavage" is tribal-like thumper-to-strip-by with fuzz break, "Midnight Train" is the pick-to-click, a harmonica-laced chugger that blasts real good (any song with "train" in the title is usually the show-stopper) and the clever "Gil Scott-Heroin" is a like a shot-to-hell bawdy drinking song from some Interzone speakeasy. I like their style, not as much as I dig FOL, but I can still get into it. This split ten-inch is probably the best bang for your buck yet this year, and all Feeling of Love records should be immedaitely placed on your must-have list, this one in particular. It’s the best shit I’ve heard from them yet.
(RK - terminal boredom)

— - FRENCH

the FEELING OF LOVE/MOVIE STAR JUNKIES split 10inch Nouvelle sortie pour le label strasbourgeois Bibimbap - géré par le gourou de la Triple Alliance de l’Est, Seb Normal - en co-production avec Rijapov : un split 10″ entre Feeling of Love et les italiens de Movie Star Junkies. On notera d’entrée la très belle pochette de Sylvie P. Feeling of Love dans la lançée de ses précédentes productions et revigoré par une formule live désormais en trio fait toujours swinger son blues sur des terrains glissants. Feeling of Love déverse des torrents de soul froide ("The way to suck"), lance quelques cris presque joyeux ("Rapeman blues") et se voit propulsé à plusieurs reprises par une batterie dynamite (le fameux Seb Normal, encore). Movie Star Junkies est aux premiers abords moins original avec son raffut sous influence Link Wray/Cramps. Mais le bouillant "Do the kick" laisse entrevoir le son fiévreux des italiens sur scène, son qui va bien plus loin qu’un banal groupe de revival garage fuzz. Voilà finalement deux groupes qui, sur des bases garage assez classiques, construisent chacun au fil de leurs concerts et de leurs disques un son sans concessions, puisant à l’occasion dans le jusque qu’au-boutisme de la no-wave ou du psychédélisme le plus frissonant.
(Max Dembo)

— - GERMAN

Das Cover mit den wirren Zeichnungen deutet etwas süßlichere Musik an, FEELING OF LOVE ist aber eine One-Man-Band aus Frankreich, die eher den musikalischen Extremsport bevorzugt. Auf dem vorliegenden Splitrelease wird er diesmal meistens von einem Drummer unterstützt, so dass man jetzt zu zweit den Club und die Trommelfelle zerlegen kann. So treffen sich dann eine heulende Slidegitarre, Keyboardkrach und rumpelige Beats zum Drogen-Bluespunk, und ich muss grinsen bei dem Gedanken, was gerade wohl die Nachbarn denken. Manchmal kann man sogar drauf tanzen. Die Italiener von den MOVIE STAR JUNKIES scheinen zumindest live einen ähnlichen Durchdrehfaktor wie die früheren BLACK LIPS zu bevorzugen, die vier Songs der 10" sind aber nicht ganz so kaputt wie die der Kollegen, kommen eher stoischer, psychotischer und teilweise mit einem fiependen Saxophon. An einigen Stellen fast wie die SCIENTISTS unproduziert, an anderer dann mehr als klassische Bluespunker. Aufgenommen hat übrigens eine Hälfte der MOJOMATICS, der bei einem Song auch seine Harp beigepackt hat. Alles mehr als unterhaltsam.
(Alex Strucken / OX77)

— - DUTCH

Dat Rijapov Records niet alleen een singleslabel is bewijst deze 10’’ van op kant A The Feeling Of Love en op kant B de Movie Star Junkies. De eerst band komt volledig terecht als eerste aan de beurt. Het uit Metz afkomstige trio klinkt behoorlijk bezeten en doet denken aan The Gun Club, maar vooral aan de Jon Spencer Blues Explosion. Niet alleen de nummers, maar ook de titels spreken tot de verbeelding. Meest interessante titel : O Lord Tell Me Why Do I Always Have To Write The Same Fucking Song. Aanrader.
PLANETTRASH.NL

— - HUNGARIAN

Na a Rijapov Records legnagyobb húzása ez a megosztott lemez. A két ilyen fasza zenekar egy korongon mán eleve egy gyönyörűség minden jóérzésű zenebuzinak, a 10 incses formátum még egy extra, a csomagolás meg eccerűen csodálatos !
Az ’A’ oldalon a THE FEELING OF LOVE- tól tanálunk hat számot. De milyet ! Ááá bassza meg szerintem möszijő Guillaume a legfaszább az egész 2008- as RnR mezőnyben. Ha mán létezik No Wave, akkor ő és két zenésztársa ezen a lemezoldalon ( név szerint Hess és Seb Normal ) No RnR- t vagy No Blues- t jáccik. Neandervőgyi dobtémák + primitív, eksztázisig fokozott gitártémák, némi tenyérrel kezelt szintivel. Nem szeretnék hasonlítgatni, de aki ismeri a Pussy Galore- t az kb. el tuggya képzelni. A számcímek is árulkodóak : O Lord tell me whay do I always have to write the same fucking song, vagy Rapeman Blues, meg ilyenek. Heteken belül jön az első nagylemez a Yakisakana Recordsnál. http://www.yakisakana.tk/ Mán alig várom.
A ’B’ oldal mán a MOVIE STAR JUNKIES- é olaszból. Náluk van szakszofon is, meg kétgitár, dob, basszus. Blues- Punk, ausztrál ízek, de nekem a kettes számnál beugrik a Morphine, az elsőnél meg a Blurt is. A harmadik Midnight Train meg egy fasza szájharmónikás blues- RnR hőbörgés . Koncerten is gecijók, megmondhattya aki látta őket márciusban a Blue River hajón a kék Dunán. Idén lesz nagylemez ezt mondták. Hála ajóistennek
Csühes Pali Weekly/RNR666

review :

"This record is dedicated to the 1990s". Fuck yeah it is. More of the Feeling of Love inspired take on the one-man-band formula, equal parts blues-junk juking and weird-punk fucking. "Hand Clap Girl" = built around a digital clap, a little guitar, then a drum-thump and noise bleat are progressively added and then it’s over. Stomper. "I’m Nothing But A Drunk Pussy" = what can I say about the best song-title in years ? Literally the wails of a drunk French pussy accompanied by a mean blues. Slopper. "Jordan’s Rules" = lyrics by MJ himself, spat in French accompanied only by an ominous synth-throb. WEIRD. Crazy concept platter from Metz’s greatest. Whiteny Houston says masturbate.
Scum stats : 300 copies on red vinyl.
(RK - terminal boredom)
(Rococo Records // www.rococorecords.com)

Kicking it off "Hand Clap Girl", which sounds a little something like Deja Voodoo with a penchant for keeping the needle always bouncing in the red (and pinning it there for an entire duration of when the sick overdriven monster distorto-fuzz is in effect) and their mental wiring fouled up and tangled more than anyone could ever imagine probably isn’t gonna help France’s Feeling Of Love refurbish the ghetto that the whole "Blues-Punk" thing has created for itself since a billion dolts decided they it was their job to fill the void the Oblivians created when they decided to call it a day BUT I’m sure I’ll be knocking on the door of their shack first when looking for that kinda fix these days. Following that tune up is "I’m Nothing But A Drunk Pussy" which conducts itself like a Pussy Galore track from "Dial M..." but without the scrap metal percussion and some of the ten-fold hate vibes replaced a weird desperation. The flip is a "cover" of a song that the local college radio station used to actually play as part of their public service announcement fulfillment. I never understood how a recorded piece of basketball player Michael Jordan extolling his rules on life and the game that made him a trillionare qualified as a public service announcement nor do I understand most of the French translation here. It’s not because I don’t have a grasp of the language more than it’s rapid fire delivery and being distracted by the twisted arpeggiation of the disco synth bass loop. That’s right-A SYNTH ! The Feeling Of Love ain’t no purists when it comes to the ways they can kick over a trashcan but they sure know how to make a mess that is all their own.
(smashin’ transistors)

The latest release from the weird French one-man-act known only as The Feeling of Love came out recently on Rococo Records. Serving as an ode to the wonderful 90s, the 7" sleeve artwork features two of the biggest icons of the era, Michael Jordan and Curt Cobain. The music Feeling of Love plays oddly lends to traditional blues at its core with jangling guitar, but his clever way of wrapping it in a murky and mechanized cellophane offers more of a Glue Wave sound. With pulsing cadence, synthesized hand claps, and his hammering, voluble vocal style, Feeling of Love pulls past any question of predictability and offers up music that slides past categorization. The standout on this single is on the b-side in a song called "Jordan’s Rules," which was apparently penned by the man himself. Sung in The Feeling of Love’s rapid harangue style of singing, over a dizzying, synthetic drum beat, and guitar that will have you instantly dancing like a retarded robot.
(Victime of time)

Very nice stuff from two very nice Frenchmen. Dont like Girls is a subterranian crawl though the world of Them and the way these guys break down and fracture the Cheater Slicks is really fucking cool.
Scott Soriano

As great as the Tete De Bebe compilation was, it, and the deluge of bands/releases we became aware of post-release (that were there all along, but it just seemed to bring things to light a bit more...), kind of burned me out on French weird punk. I mean, there’s just so much of it. You could spend days just listening to this stuff on MySpace, not to mention all of the CD-R releases and shit that you have little chance of getting in the US unless you invest serious time and bucks. Not to say that there isn’t great stuff to be found ; a good lot of it is. But the whole morass of bands, side projects, solo stuff, etc. is daunting enough to be a bit off-putting. Meaning, we, the people, only have so much time to devote to this, which is why it was nice to have a user-friendly interface like Tete De Bebe to do the work for us. Left to our own devices, it’s like being lost in the forest. Anyway, this release, from Cheb Samir (Normals, Le Sport, Crack und ultra eczema, and more...) and the Black Souls of Leviathan (which is just Seb Normal it seems) is all over the place. Heavy on the bombast but little of it sticks to your ribs, know what I mean ? On the flip side they disembowel the Cheater Slicks’ "Just Do It". It’s a real horror show. My opinion, pass on this one and spend some time/money looking up these lesser-known French outfits : A.H. Kraken, The Feeling of Love, and Electric Guitars. There’s a ton of this stuff out there worth listening to, but this single really isn’t it. Scum stats : 500, amazing Bongout art, one of the best looking Yaki sleeves ever.
Rich Kroneiss / terminal Boredom

More French stuff from the normal family of bands. This time they draft their pal Jeff Clark and it seems to subdue the guys but in a way that makes them seem more meaty in their garageness.
Scott Soriano

The Normals, if you haven’t been keeping up on your French Glue-Wave band rosters, are sort of the Cheeraks minus MeeLoo and plus Cheb Samir, with a lineage that goes back to the Crash Normal (and still does), Thundercrack, and even the awesome and under-rated Squares (and more). They are joined on this two-song seven-inch by Jeff Clark from the Demon’s Claws in some sort of Franco-Canadian guitarist exchange program. The title cut is one side-long-sprawler of garage-blues downer that literally crawls off the vinyl. Druggily visceral and stoned-out. The B-Side is a little looser, weirder, with some wild oscillating guitar sounds. The B-Side is just average, but the A-Side is a must for your next peyote session in the sweat lodge. I’ll let you decide whether you want to pay import $ for one killer (and fairly long) tune. Scum stats : 500, screened Bongout sleeve.
Rich Kroneiss / Terminal Boredom

You can choose between two kinds of pattern :
  ERIC or JOHANNA

3 sizes for each :
  (S) for girls (small)
  (S) for guys (quite small)
  (M) for guys (quite large)

BATARANG (BE)
Fantastic new female-fonted band sprung from the super exciting and extremely fertile Strasbourg scene that seems to revolve around a mysterious French producer/con man and record peddler who goes by the name of Phil Scrotum. If that doesnt ring any of your bells, maybe names like Crash Normal or The Normals will, or Cheb Samir, whos in both the Normals (whom I hope you already know) and Crack Und Ultra Eczema, who sound somewhere inbetween Karate Party and The Numbers, or as the Softenon damaged offspring of Sick Things and Gang of Four. The esoteric, bizarro slant to their music is more pronounced than I expected on this CD, with some demented guitar noodling here and there thats reminiscent of the artier Electric Eels stuff, and the occasional nod to old Sonic Youth and the likes. More than just cook up a cool, original sound, they also know how to write some great tunes, and this record has plenty of those. In case you were still wondering : this is a band to cherish, and this albums a blast. Its a CD only release, but youre going to buy it anway because a) you believe anything you read on the Internet, and b) you dont want to miss out on one of the hottest French rocknroll records released so far in 2006. Recommended ! (Vinyl junks and collector nerds can satisfy their vile lusts by hunting down the Crack split ep with Le Sport on Bibimbap Records, and theres a track on S-S Records Tête de Bébé compilation as well.)
Tom
http://www.batarang.be/home.htm

TRAKMARX (UK)
Strasbourgeois NO WAVE collective Crack Und Ultra Eczema peddle most excellent post-rock-art-house blues for the 21st century. Mates of Single Of The Issue heroes, Cheveu, Crackund could teach the UKs insipid art faction a thing or two about being obstructive & constructive at the same time - without needing to melt your parents record collection down in the process : i.e. - The Young Marble Giants revival does NOT start here ! (...)
Wayne Cocaine tMx 25 06/06
www.trakmarx.com

VANITY PROJECT (UK)
Fear and isolation is captured in the opening underwater plink of Youre Really Under The Sea before the guitar, bass and what-not clang and clatter like terrified arms flapping to stay afloat. Buddys A Good Boy clips and rumbles with a Velvet Underground undertone beneath Devo-ish chirp. May They Want You responds to a call to spacey ultra-surf by falling down the stairs. Jah For A String balances on a shrill-slide high wire, while Away To Enjoy dips a toe into psychedelic waters, getting snared by a fierce rip-tide of squalling guitar. A vibrant, itchy record that annoys as much as it beguiles.
Skif
http://www.vanityproject.co.uk

SCOTT SORIANO (USA)
"If you bought Tete de Bebe than the first thing you heard was these Strausborg freaks’ bludgeoning Testicle. Liked that one ? Well, here’s a CD of more twisted post-punk chaos. Not same songs but same strangulated brain stem, ear ripping sounds. Loud & aggressive & good."
http://www.s-srecords.com/

Label Chef RONAN unterstützt seine Landsmänner und veröffentlicht auf dieser Split 10" gleich 2 französiche Bands. Die bekannten Krachmacher CHEERAKS um den Künstler MEELOO/BONGOUT eröffnen mit einem ruhigen Instrumental bevor es mit "World’s Gonna Be A Better Place" eine überdrehte Garage-Trash Nummer mit dickem Orgeleinsatz gibt, gefolgt von "Ring Of Fire" in einer super trashigen LoFi-Version. "Hunny Bunny" stampft dann regelrecht wild aus den Boxen mit kaputtem Gesang und dem typischen GORIES Schlagzeug-Beat, bevor sie ihre Seite mit einer weiteren Orgel-Trash Nummer "Lord’s Becoming Wild Again" beenden. Wie üblich präsentieren sich die CHEERAKS fernab von jeglichen musikalischen Schubladen und sind somit schwer in Worte zu fassen. Die NORMALS auf der anderen Seite, treten ebenfalls in 3er Besetzung an, bringen 6 ebenfalls trashige Garage-Punk Nummern mit wildem Gesang und Orgel an den Stadt. Wie üblich für das Label auf 500 Stück limitiert und mit schickem Artwork versehen.
www.incognitorecords.de

Straight from Strasburg, France come the Cheeraks & the Normals and what do we get ? One fuckign corker of a 10". The Cheeraks sound a bit calmer than previous outings but better than ever. They mix up the full on garage assault with Seb Normal weirdness and it is damn fun. The Normals (Seb & Nick from the Cheeraks with the always entertaining Cheb Samir) do away with the art and plow through some yummy Oblivions ispired murk. I only have a few of these and who knows when/if I am getting more.
Scott Soriano

Fucking great follow up to this french band debut. I liked that one but this one is miles ahead of it... they stole the "...are n°1" from Jon Spencer but that was 10 years ago and it still sounds pretty damn cool so why the heck not. "No Mercy" is a damn cool Blues Explosion/Blacks-sounding punker and "Honey" is more of a mid-tempo blues-grinder. And even tho’ it says four songs on the sleeve there’s only two ’real’ songs, the others are more like intro and outro.
(Thomas) Savage magazine web-site

The second single by a band that is quickly taking their place as the best French group in existence right now. The A-side begins with a JSBX-mocking tape loop intro and devolves quickly into harsh and bloody little skirmish between punk and blues that souns almost Persuaders-like with its overly harsh vocal sound. The B-side contains a great Lynchian/Lost Highway creeping groove of a song with great disembodied vocals that are almost indiscernible through the haunting echo. The perfect soundtrack for driving through the desert at night with a body in the trunk and a gun in the glovebox. My only problem with this record : it’s over way too quick. But, I’ll take what I can get from these guys, and so should you.
(RK) Terminal Boredom

Primo French garage strangeness from members of Crash Normal, The Squares, and Thundercrack, plus the guy responsible for the artwork on yakisakana’s releases. Far from your average band, these guys take the standard garage-rock formula and pepper it with weird noises, odd starts and stops, some vicious guitar fuzz, and what sounds like a loop of monkey noises. "Guinea Pig Killer" is a great and noisy twisted static party, but the real treat here is the B-side. The insanely titled "I love hair dryer noise" is some great grimy blues-punk that stumbles into a groove and then breaks it down to death. Then you get "Ah Ah Ah" a ferocious blast that will tear your fucking face off, I swear to God. They crib the lyrics from The Pogues "This old town" and turn them into a song that’s as mean as Shane MacGowan is ugly. Listen to the B-side first, and you’ll understand what these guys are going for. Totally unexpected, weird but not arty, and definitely one of the best singles I’ve heard this year.
(RK) Blank Generation

France with a new band from the Nancy-area, including members of the Squares and if I’m correct Crash Normal aswell. A band who picked a pretty fitting name, The Cheeraks, though written and spelled rather awkwardly. The tracks are all messed up, torn and dismembered like if they re-assembled or created by a bunch of noisy, but sloppy mechanics who drink battery acid at lunch break and keep going on a diet of pills. All tracks even the hardly recognizable cover of the Pogues’" Dirty old town" are heavily damaged. Even at their most fucked up moments the Oblivians never crossed the boundaries which are stepped over massively here by the Cheeraks. No wonder this is yet another release by the French Yakisakana records as it comes pretty close to what Superhelicopter Ltd and The Evolutions already done on this label.
(Up yours !, Belgium)

I dunno dick about the CHEERAKS or what they’re supposed to sound like (either lobotomized rhythm & blues, spooky haunted-house rock n’ roll, or GG ALLIN pervo porno). I do know that they’re out for a bad time at your expense, and that they produce a big ugly noise that can’t be dismissed politely. "Ah Ah Ah (Dirty Old Town)" is fun trash...as is "I love hair-dryer noise". I picture the band as half-evolved Neanderthalers in silver lamé space suits-it’s that cave-meets-rocketship appeal you get when worlds collide. Boss.
(JH, Maximum Rock n’ Roll)