Electrelane
Axes

I could start this review by immediately burdening myself with convoluted and knowledgeable terms. I could express clever, rational, cerebral, spiritual, poetic thoughts to make a good impression; or not: I could make sarcastic, blasphemous, irreverent, impertinent jokes, just to "shock"…
But I don’t feel like it.

Perhaps I could tell you that this band consists of four girls - or four "babes", depending on the point of view of the reader. From the very first listen, I could give a high score for the compelling rhythmic precision and elegant musical attitude of these ladies from Brighton, who perform with drums, guitars, bass, Farfisa, saxophone, trumpet, horn, banjo, cello, piano, organ, harmonium... Or I could meticulously describe the notes, melodies, and dissonances of this record, blending everything into an improbable cutting, perhaps to be planted in the rich soil of contemporary indie-pop-art-wave. Then, I could describe the surprising orgiastic fury when the keyboardist, Verity, brutalizes her piano, while the other three, Emma, Mia, and Ros, dive into a blazing bacchanal with their respective instruments. I might even dare to go further, stating that Verity's voice has a rather virile femininity, an elusive womanly sound, but with balls as hard as coconuts. Moreover, just to put a cherry on top, I could announce loudly that at the helm is Steve Albini, master of ceremonies shamelessly at ease among wild punk and hardfolk peaks, and fiery, velvety noise-freak sonorities.

At this point, I could say that what intrigues me about this record is the nervous and agile electric energy, and the priceless sound, freshly tinted with gothic strokes. I could pompously cite overused names like Velvet Underground, Sonic Youth, and maybe Patti Smith, and while I'm at it, I would even throw in the gypsy flair of Goran Bregovic, and the indie folk of Arcade Fire. Thinking of the tracks, I could observe that the duo "Eight Steps + Gone Dracker" is one of the most piercing and dynamic instrumental scores heard in recent years, and that "Those Pocket Are People" stubbornly reminds me of the hard and pure guitars of Daydream Nation. Also, I could wonder what Leonard Cohen thinks of the frenetic and muddled reinterpretation of "The Partisan"… but ultimately, who cares what he might think… oh, this version wins me over, and that's enough for me.
To conclude, I could declare with absolute certainty that Axes will disappoint those already familiar with the previous albums, but not me, as I am discovering Electrelane for the first time.

I could, I could, I could say this and much more… I'm not going to. It's just that I'm a little tired, but one way or another, I wanted to tell you: I like this album.
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