ABSOLUTELY AMAZING!!! Metal Urbain are French seminal (ca. 1977) eletro-/synth-punk pioneers and their single (Paris maquis/Cle de Contact) was Rough Trade’s first release ever (RT001; 1977). Seminal brit punk (Wire; the Vibrators) meets NYC no wave (Theoretical Girls; Teenage Jesus and the Jerks) with electro-experimentation (Eno; Suicide; Cabaret Voltaire) and light touches of surf/garage guitar riffs. Metal Urbain surely makes rockabilly sound like the mother of eletroclash! Imagine starting a punk band in 1976 with one synth, one drum machine, and one guitar as your sole instrumentation. Raunchy, no wavy, classic proto-punk, casio beats, metronomic clicks, electroclashy noise, and garage-surf guitar leads. French anarchist-to-surrealist vocals to boot. Think SEMINAL POST-PUNK. It really doesn’t get any better than this. From producer Steve Albini to Jesus and the Mary Chain, Metal Urbain is considered to be heavily influential. This release comes from Acute Records and it’s their 3rd with the first being the Theoretical Girls CD that swept KZSU’s charts last year. Play this to No 1. And then play it again!
Play: 5 (Rough Trade’s first), 24 (awesome dance remix), 6, 4, 3 (18), 12, 9, 19, 20, 21, 22, 15
1. Classic punk ca 1977 fudged with shitloads of distortion & angular electro-noise.
2. Militant, political, apocalyptic. Fasciste!
3/18. A rapid assault. On arms! Storm the gates! Garage-y riffs and assaulting rhythms.
4. Synth noise (Cabaret Voltaire) and no wave. Psychotic & surreal. Lady Coca Cola.
5. Wire-sque guitar and vocal assaults. Slashy noise and casio beats
6. Numbers-like electroclashy intro, surfy guitar lead intro, slashy punk guitar groove.
7. Experimental, mid tempo. Spooky bells and sinister/dissonant electro-noise.
8. Agitating and neurotic. Slashy!
9. Bouncy and garage-y. Mid tempo. Serious and rocking!
10. Electroclashy and punky.
11. Sludgy guitars and vocals. Filth, vomit and fury.
12. Awesome-awesome synth effects. Catchy rhythms and melody.
13. Straight-up punk with electro-slashy noise.
14. Casio beats meet French punk fury.
15. Melodic guitar leads, upbeat and catchy. A remote harbinger of… the Pixies.
16. Serious and militant.
17. Rock’n’roll guitar leads through elecro-slashy rhythms & Lydonesque vocals.
19. Fun, crazy, no-wavy angular psychobilly number. Nice Colt 45 gun shot sound effects.
20. Parlez-vous Anglais? Get a fucking load of this: a cover of the classic garage tune “Train Kept A-Rollin’” (Yardbirds, Arizona Swamp Company).
21. Psychotic surreal vocals. See no wavy electro-punk pioneers Suicide (Martin Rev).
22. Guitar leads remind me of the Flaming Groovies. Psychedelic rockabilly meets electroclashy punk.
23. Very synth-oriented. Disco Not Disco. Cabaret Voltaire and Human League.
24. Fuck yeah! I’ll dance to that. Seductive techno beat. Awesome remix. Play with Wire’s remixes.