Cheveu - 'Like a Deer in the Headlights/C'est ça l'amour' (Born Bad)

The way 'Like a Deer in the Headlights' erupts out of the vinyl is explosive. It's somehow bigger and MORE explosive than anything else heard by Cheveu to-date; I can't explain why, though better production might have something to do with it. The sung title is a melodic hook answered by intensifying guitar licks, and it's a pretty catchy little moment. The verses explode in Olivier's usual vehement babble, and then there's a funk-driven bridge that comes out of nowhere. B-side 'C'est ça l'amour' is some rare French-language material, co-written with a certain Sophie so one suspects that if I understood French, this would be something sweet and personal. It's not as much of a new direction as 'Like a Deer' but when you do something well, why stop?

Cheveu/Crash Normal split 7" (Rococo)

Crash Normal's side erupts with a blast of manic, industrial punk, with careful attention paid to get a sharp, metallic guitar tone. But barely a minute in, we hear the sound of a stylus streaking across a record and the music changes into something much more Cheveu-like. By which I mean, synth drums, and distorted, mostly spoken vocals. So which band are we actually listening to? The third song on the side also confuses me - both of these are slower and almost a bit loungier than Cheveu usually sound. But both bands are from France and probably have some member overlap. The end of (what I think is) the Crash Normal side descends into a collapsing mess -- well, a 'crash', I guess -- which could pass for Nihilist Spasm Band on a good day. The Cheveu side (we're pretty sure of that, as there's a certain twang to the vocalist that we've come to recognise by now) has a howdown feel, with a twangy riff accelerating, smashing into a brick wall, backing up, and doing it again over and over. The vocals are more like barks and it's hard to imagine all of this energy coming from a line-in recording aesthetic. The guitar is clean here and I like the way it rises above the tide. There's great things afoot in France now, as the legacy of Metal Urbain lives on.