French imports Cheval De Frise like their rhythms. They keep them as guarded as their dotty fruit tarts, taunting and teasing, misleading the listener with every urgent note thrown into the mix. Through the use of an amplified acoustic guitar and a worn down drum kit, the duo crafts climatic odes of a discreetly ornate tone. The album's ruin laden sleeve intentionally illustrates an unpleasant quality of beauty, one created by forceful means. The evident thirteen tracks provide for moments of both subtle restraint and thundering intensity. Finally, the group's lauded debut is available again, re-released via Chicago's Sickroom records.
Originally released on the European Sonore label in 2000, the album tiptoes comfortably around the loathsome Math-Rock ticket, employing a fair shake of angular dynamics and patchwork rhythms. Surface comparisons are easy to manufacture in such a narrow played genre, especially when much of the music can seemingly bleed together. Seasoned veterans Don Caballero are first to come to mind. Though Cheval De Frise lack the volume and fevered sweat of Don Caballero's drums, their attention to melody and composition generates a thoughtfully striking listen. The opening "Connexion Monstrueuse Entre un Objet et Son Image," resonates with an exultant build, with clear nods to the complex cadences of free jazz. The track brands the album's sound, creating a clear resonance that dominos successfully throughout the remaining pieces.
The limited use of instrumentation is what makes Cheval De Frise an accomplishment as well as a frustration. Only through the occasional thin-veiled atmospherics does the group hint at the potential for sound expansion. While the fine line of monotony is never completely crossed, there are snippets of redundancy that blight the progress of tracks like "Le Feu, Le Lin et la Bougie," where the listener can't help but hear similarities to prior songs. Despite a few shortcomings, Cheval De Frise is an impressive debut that lingers in between pleasantry and pandemonium, offering forty minutes of odd, deserving attraction.
1. Connexion Monstrueuse Entre un Objet et Son Image
2. Noblesse de l'Échec (1)
3. Constructions d'Écorces d'Arbres
4. Langue Hastée
5. Lundi Deux Mars
6. Un Pont et des Eaux Noires Limoneuses
7. Incliné et Chenu
8. Le Feu, Le Lin et la Bougie
9. Les Canaux Sont Ouverts, Les Moustique Meurent, Le Monstre Disparait
10.Mille Courbettes
11. Douche Froide, Harmonium
12. Le Vestibule des Lâches
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