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Album REVIEW |
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1.
FOG (1:02)
Length: 37:34 (min:secs)
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A Parisian five piece that have so far released four self-produced EPs and have been together for quite sometime before attaining a deal with Drakkar Records and releasing their debut album curiously entitled “Travelling In Travel”. It is essentially an album of eight rock songs punctuated with filler tracks of moody electronics and samples. The French band tackles many different styles of rock, crossing a range of sub-genres and covering a broad set of influences. With “Alert” it’s a hard hitting rock and metal song, screaming vocals, pile driving rhythm and piercing guitars and then a switch to the raucous hardcore/punk leanings of “Travelling In Travel”. “Sleep & Learn” goes all background and is a cool instrumental soundtrack before another switch to an Audioslave or At The Drive In style rockout with “Feedback Disease”. Then things take a definite alternative rock slant with “Non Reached Lights” that is reminiscent of the Manic Street Preachers before the next song goes all Rage Against The Machine with “Pimple”. Winding things up there’s the Therapy-like “Gotham” and finally “Underworld” a slow marathon length song from the school of Soundgarden. The vocals are in English and are largely of the gravely shouting style but alternate with some sung passages. The lyrics at times sound a little pidgin (but hey, have you heard my idea of French lyrics! “Le ciel est bleu, le vent du large, Creuse la mer bien joliment” - Ed). But that’s maybe a little too negative, as there are some fine hard hitting songs to be found here but also with the ability to show some emotion and feelings. Overall, it’s a professional sound from a competent band, which ticks many of the boxes but somehow they are boxes that are on different forms. There is nothing particularly original to be found and in fact sometimes the influences are far too transparent. Whereas the variety of the music across the album is a nice change and shows ambition, is does make things feel fragmented and lacks any direction - it may also be that a listener’s appeal is for just an individual song but doesn’t hold across the whole album. Yes, that is it! This album is a bit like a bag of liquorish allsorts; a few will simply dislike liquorish, fine, then there will be another minority that like them all but the chances are that the majority will only like certain ones and discard all the others. But then they have managed to sell liquorish allsorts for a very long time!
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- Rigsby
(23rd October, 2008) |
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