label : Ashes to ashes -- Prod : Deaf Lab Studios, Fr
Great album by this combo from Monaco, small city-state from the south of France, well known for its monarchial pedigree, tax avoiding shell corporations, casinos, and old ladies with diamond rings, surrounded with ambitious gigolos, luxurious yachts, expensive sport cars, and ONE stoner rock band, Water Pipe Cult. With such a name, you could expect a smoky-sludge band, but instead of that, their music is really varying from desert rock to strong pop-rock, with a constant of inspired composition, an interesting version of QOTSA, more energetic and less commercial. The 12 very mature compos are so good you can rarely take a break, mixing vintage sounding guitars that do not hesitate to use major chords here and there, very inventive drumming, and even sometimes a sax or brass instruments, sometimes male choirs, hispanic touches, or french classic weather alerts. Caroline is the singer in the band, sometimes whispering sometimes screaming, never evanescent but very involved and strong. Very good sound, great production, enjoyable music! I bought the CD for a laughable price, knowing nothing about the band, and the thing spinned litterally hundreds of times on my hifi system! Highly recommended!
You can for instance listen to 'Sofa on the Moon' - as the whole album on streaming here :
Sadly, they don't seem to play many gigs, and even less out of southern France. But they are currently recording a new album, and hopefully we won't wait too long to see them on stage...
words by Vincent Buisson
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