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IN STOCK
01. Zero - Adios Texas
02. Zero - The Kung Fu Song
03. Zero - Marathon Woman
04. Zero - Underwater Frequencies
05. Zero - Deranged
06. Zero - 8-Bit Crash Can
07. Zero - Fake From The Start
08. Zero - We Blew It
09. Zero - Five Vs Six
10. Zero - Myself As A Fool
11. Zero - Recife, 1974
12. Zero - Alligator Wine (Screamin' Jay Hawkins Cover)
13. Zero - San Francisco II
14. Zero - Yawny Holiday
ARTIST
TITLE
Ain't That Mayhem?
FORMAT
CD

LABEL
CATALOG #
IDA 134CD IDA 134CD
GENRE
RELEASE DATE
8/2/2019

The Lyon band's recent collaborations with Virginie Despentes and Béatrice 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 Aldéa and the drummer Franck Laurino. In the Deity Guns (89-93) and Bästard (93-98) and in a handful of albums (including productions by Lee Ranaldo of Sonic Youth or Andy Briant of 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 Ain't 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 manor that serves as a backdrop to this record, you might wonder how it all remains standing.