Larmes Noires – Cache-cache
For all the talk of alternative music belonging to everybody, for all the praise that communities of music fans receive for welcoming everybody, there’s usually a very strict dress code involved. You’re more likely to crash a New York party thrown for and by rich financiers than enter one of the trendiest gothic-tinged clubs in the world without the right attire.
Is this what we need? Does the world really require more uniformity? Thankfully, bands like Larmes Noires force us to consider why we insist on imagining certain genres existing within certain strict parameters. Why can’t only foreboding vocals sit at the front of gothic-rock? And, why must everyone be dressed in black and put in the work to look like they’ve escaped a 19th-century painting with the paint still dripping?
Larmes Noires’ “Cache-cache” is mysterious, dark music meant to be played late at night and underground. In that sense, at least, gothic-rock fans have little reason to complain. But this is not a song issued for the goth party-goers, but for the ones looking deep inside themselves for some meaning to it all. Furthermore, soundwise, Larmes Noires integrate tricks learned from shoegaze and post-punk to make “Cache-cache” sound more like the soundtrack for a philosophy audiobook, than a Friday night in Berling. Avoiding the cliches, the band manages to stand out.
Kouskous Heaven – Thinker Bell
People who want to subtly insult modern art forms that are very popular tend to refer to them as nothing more than “escapism.” Is it? Of course! And, in fact, I can’t think of a greater compliment than you could pay to pop songs or blockbuster movies.
The very fact is that since the dawn of rock n’ roll, the main reason for people paying attention, or for investors footing the musicians’ bill, has been the fact that these songs, when they really wrap audiences in their sway, make you forget about reality, and help you replace it in a kind of frenzy of imagination.
Still, to get the same kick, you need different ingredients. That’s why bands like Kouskous Heaven are such a welcome sight. The blues have taken us as far as it could. And the people who used to go to school in order to play all sorts of scales in all sorts of keys aren’t so uncool anymore.
What’s fascinating about Kouskous Heaven’s “Thinker Bell” is that on one hand, it sounds like some Conservatory student’s homework. But, at the same time, the ecstatic lead vocals bring into the territory the blues freakouts of someone like Janis Joplin. It just goes to prove that the main purpose of pop music doesn’t change. It’s just the beats, the scales, and the proficiency with which the musicians approach them that’s different over the years.
