Animal Triste - Jericho

I'm not going to tell you again "who are these?" I'm not going to remind you that they are based in Rouen, nor that they (partially) belong to la Maison Tellier, Darko or late Radiosofa, no. I'm going to talk directly about this new album.

How about going to drown in the dodgy oceans ("Ave Satan")? Well since this is rock n’ roll, let’s play with its codes. Let’s sell our soul to the devil like Robert Johnson. Let’s launch into incantations and black masses. Let the fever take hold of us. Let’s burn ourselves in unsuspected fires. Let’s be familiar with the poetry of drug-using legendary bands. Let’s enlist the services of some of the biggest names in current American rock: Peter Hayes of Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, and Alain Johannes who has worked with Queens of the Stone Age, Dave Grohl, Chris Cornell and others.

The album is called Jericho, but you won't hear any trumpets. Let's revisit the biblical story: if Jericho were to collapse today, you can bet that it would not be so much under the blow of trumpets, as under the stridency of the saturated electric guitars of the sextet. The 3 guitarists do not step on each other's toes though: the role of each one is now perfectly defined.

For the 1st time since the beginning of this band, I have to admit that I don't like a couple of songs. This is probably due to the risk-taking of our guys and their desire to take the compositions to new territories ("The Real Kanye West"). How can we blame them?
So I can't say if this 3rd album is better than the 1st or the 2nd, but one thing is for sure: their rock has hardened ("Montevideo"), becoming even more powerful, if it were possible. Maddening.

On vocals, Yannick is more and more comfortable in this band, varying his voice, taking care of his deep voice at the beginnings, occasionally allowing himself to yell as he never would in French. And there's always a moment when he whistles too. This time, it's on the intro of "Rearview Mirrors", a remarkable track for the distorted guitar roaring on the chorus, and on the final solo.

To be complete, good ballades. In the manner of the hard rock bands of the 80s, which had no equal for languorous slow dances.
I just find it a shame that "Homecoming King" and its syrupy choirs arrive on the 3rd track, prematurely breaking a well-engaged rock dynamic.

With the exception of a short poem written and spoken by the actress Marina Hands (included in "Jericho", a little more pop than the rest), the lyrics are all by Yannick, who even allowed himself the little pun “dark side of the mood” ("The Morning After").
With all this, if you haven't yet understood how good it is, read this review again, because I'm not going to tell you again.