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pervertedbylanguage boxers
Artist: Perverted By Language
Title: Boxers
Genre: Post-Punk
Release Date: 1st September 2014
Label: Wonderhorse


Album Review

Are you into INTERPOL or EDITORS? Better still, THE SMITHS, JOY DIVISION or THE CHAMELEONS? Then this first instalment from PERVERTED BY LANGUAGE is for you. The quintet takes its name from the title of an album by British band THE FALL, released in 1983 on Rough Trade. The two founding members are Jez Thomas, an English “expat” living in Brussels (vocals) and Ronan Collot, from Brittany in France (guitar). The other musicians are Francesco Carlucci, from Italy (guitar), Elise Boënnec, also from Brittany (bass and vocals) and Guy Wilssens, from Sint-Niklaas in Belgium.

After numerous concerts, the combo has just released its first album on Wonderhorse Records: ‘Boxers’. The general level of the album is very high. Renaud Houben's recording work at Studio Pyramid and Fred Hyatt's mixing and mastering are outstanding and the sound is as powerful as it is clear. Musically, one is immersed in a post-punk maelstrom, filled with JOY DIVISION darkness, SMITHS lyrical and sensual inspiration and CHAMELEONS crystalline guitars. The inspiration of THE SMITHS is mainly found on the first two tracks, ‘The Box’ and ‘Lost For Words’. Harmonies and melodies, combined with Jez' excellent lyrics, clearly evoke MORRISSEY.

‘Elephantine’ and ‘Amandine’ have a slower tempo and reveal another aspect of the PBL's personality. The first is reminiscent of THE CHAMELEONS' ‘View From A Hill’ and ends with beautiful a cappella harmonies. The second evokes unequivocally THE EDEN HOUSE and for good reason, as Jez told me he composed the song just after a concert of the English band, which included as singer a certain ... Amandine, the lovely and talented Amandine Ferrari Fradejas. On this track, it's Eloise Boënnec who sings gently on a carpet of incandescent guitars. A great title!

After ‘The Beach’, a very straightforward track which revives a raw punk energy, you get ‘The Idealist’, a song that has a great potential. It is a slow with “Smithian” accents and an immediately memorable chorus: "I once was Idealist but then I met you...". Nice! ‘All My Mother Favourite Nightmares’ begins with a very beautiful guitar riff and we are kindly rocked by Jez Thomas' baritone voice. It makes us think of the late Adrian Borland (THE SOUND). The eponymous track ‘Perverted By Language’ stands out by its powerful, almost metal-ish, chorus.

After ‘Medication’, a touching song on the theme of depression, the album ends with a tour de force, ‘Pewter Eyes’. The title of six minutes is built on a tribal rhythm and Jez' melodies and words are probably the most personal of the whole album. The atmosphere is hypnotic and you get carried away by the chorus "Turn out the light, turn out the light..." until the final climax. To sum up, this is a production that deserves to be discovered and that is clearly at the level of international acts. Provided they get rid of the influences mentioned above, this band has a great potential! The compositions are beautiful and sound as future “classics”. Frankly, congratulations, guys and keep the good work!!


Tracklist

01. The Box
02. Lost For Words
03. Elephantine
04. Amandine
05. The Beach
06. The Idealist
07. All Of My Mother Favourite Nightmare
08. Perverted By Language
09. Medication
10. Pewter Eyes


Line-up

Jez Thomas – Vocals, bass on Amandine
Ronan Collot – Guitars
Francesco Carlucci – Drums
Elise Boënnec – Bass, vocals on Amandine
Guy Wilssens – Guitars


Websites

https://www.facebook.com/PBL01 / https://pervertedbylanguage.bandcamp.com/album/boxers


Cover Picture

pervertedbylanguage boxers


Rating

Music: 8
Sound: 8
Total: 8 / 10





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