The Brutal Wave [Wierd Records,2010]
Wierd Records presents the debut album from Frank(just Frank) from Paris, France entitled The Brutal Wave. The Brutal Wave draws from many rich traditions of US and UK guitar driven wave, minimal synth, early black metal and new indie rock from Brooklyn respectively - layering lush washes of atmospheric anglophilic guitars above a warmly orchestral analogue synth and drum machine fueled minimal electronic backdrop. Equally of disparate origins are the band members themselves, despite such varied influences and backgrounds, Frank(just Frank) indeed proudly embrace the French pop musical tradition and present a freshly recontextualized version of the french cold wave sound, which might well be most appropriately called ‘La Vague Froide Moderne’ in 2010.
You may hear the Cure in the guitar tones, but it’s a distinctive and updated collection that blends icy, melancholic guitar/synthesizers, dark drum machines, post-punk, and a couple of languages. The band’s sound is harder to pin down than “Parisian early ’80s-inflected synth pop.” One half the band (Chris) was born in NJ and grew up with the other half (Kirti) in Nice. They both went to school in London, where they listened to black and death metal before moving into the so-called “Black Wave” (i.e. coldwave + black metal) scene. Despite the t-shirt in the band’s photo, you won’t hear anything as extreme as that on the jangling “Coeur Hanté.” It’s sort of like early R.E.M. via Siouxsie and Joy Division (and the Smiths in those vocals).
