France, Paris especially, is sometimes seen, from abroad, as a place of sophistication, of culture and of complexity, a country where love, sentiments, melancholy somehow merge romantically with existentialism and poststructuralism (and accessorily with promiscuity, then known as "free love"). Charismatic philosophers, fit and smart poets, pipe-smoking Marxist singer and profound intellectuals would all be rubbing shoulders at conferences, engage in heated yet challenging debates, smoke far too much and get angry with self-righteous passionate class.
And, even though I personally evolve in such an intellectually glamorous world (I was told Terminal Sound Nuisance is "intrinsically sartrean" - whatever that means), the truth is mostly very different. This morning I saw on my facebook feed (this is the most depressing sentence of 2024 so far) that a young American, self-proclaimed "foodie" (whatever that means as well) and Tik Tok influencer, filmed herself crying because, while traveling in Europe doing whatever wealthy foodies do (taking pictures of their plates I assume), she stopped in Lyon for a couple of days and did not make any friends there as sociable, easy-going and eager to make some as she seemed to be. So here she is, crying live on Tik Tok (wearing a French beret which is the most glaring sign I can think of that you are a naive tourist) and basically complaining and sniveling that French people are rude ugly bastards that will scoff at you if you are not familiar with every single traditional French meals. I felt bad for her because indeed, people in Lyon are notoriously known for being cold and uppity, and because if you believe what you see in Emily in Paris or Amélie is for real, you are in for a major disappointment. French people are dirty wankers that have been marinading in their own sense of superiority for centuries, relying on a reputation of intellectualism and refinement in order to make foreigners feel inferior. If you are in a room full of French people, you can bet that every single one of them thinks he or she is smarter than everyone else. And that's a scientific fact.
The equivalent of such heart-breaking dumb silliness in punk-rock is that non-francophones are unaware of our national propensity to love using terrible puns when they pick a band name. A lot of them cannot be translated which is actually fortunate as it spared everyone the embarrassment but just know they are similar to the worst dad jokes, if the dad in question is something of a slimy twat. Bands reveling in such puns belong to a lot of different genres as well (ska bands, of course, with an act like Les Skarottes being real), sometimes actually good bands with something worthy to say, so that the choice of silly monikers is like shooting yourself in the foot. Bands like Jodie Faster, Youssouf Today or Michel Platinium were indeed good. And I mean just take a look at the name of my own series. We're just doomed.
But what is the connection between French punk's depressingly hopeless tendency to go for shit names and today's Ep? Well, Fastard of course. It would be a little unfair to say that the name is gross like some fastcore/grindcore names can be, but it is nonetheless a hardcore dad joke and one that I can imagine being very popular among the French population. I am surprised our local lovers of fast hardcore, a subgenre generally keen on such lexical amusement, did not find that one first.
Let's get to the actual record. We've already significantly talked about Czech crust with the review of the split between Gride and Lies & Distrust in December so I am not going to dick around too much. Dread 101 basically formed after Lies & Distrust's demise and two members went on to start this new project so that I very much see the band as the logical follow-up to Lies & Distrust, which might not be that relevant in terms of personnel but is as far as the chronology and evolution of Czech crust is concerned. Dread 101 was probably the first Czech band I knew through the 2002 split with Edinburgh's Social Insecurity and I think they are still my favourite. While L&D were heavily rooted in 90's eurocrust, Dread 101 had more of a Swedish metallic feel, even though they certainly did not give up on mid '93 Hiatus love (up until the mid 00's, very few European crust bands did to be honest). The production still has that distinct 90's raw yet hard-hitting crust feel, not unlike Polish bands' maybe. As I mentioned I am sensibly reminded of Swedish juggernauts like Skitsystem or late Wolfpack but also of the metallic sound of early Filth of Mankind. The grinding vibe that L&D sometimes had is gone here and Dread 101's songwriting can be said to correspond to a sort of template for simple, heavy and metallic Scandi-inspired Czech and Slovakian crust that still exists to this day. It could be argued that the presence of Ethan, who would form the well-respected Cimex-loving Guided Cradle, on the guitar might have brought that beefy Swedish influence or it could have been the start of Wolfpack's long-lasting influence in the region. Dread 101 was a solid band indeed with a deep connection with Scotland (Fastard were from Aberdeenshire) and while I still play the split Lp regularly, I have a certain fondness for the raw urgency of this particular early work. Following the split of the band, as mentioned Ethan would do Guided Cradle, Dan would join Non-Comittal and Angry Brigade along with Svatopluk (who also did Spes Erepta), Stříbro would join Telesa Ohnepal and Kukučka V.I.R.
On the other side you will find the deliciously silly-yet-punishing Fastard. I have no idea what was meant with the gladiator-themed cover but at least I remembered it. I am not especially well-versed in grindcore or fastcore and I have never claimed to but the five minutes of music, with no less than seven songs, are pleasant indeed. The music has an obnoxious cavemen feel, we're not dealing in technical grindcore here at all and I enjoy the groove Fastard demonstrate in their filthy crust metal moments, maybe not unlike Confrontation on that level. I guess fans of savage punky grindcore like Warsore (the band's primary influence I guess) would enjoy the band and I think the traditional polyphonic grindcore vocals (ranging from mad high-pitched shrieks to bear-like growls) confer a welcome atmosphere of cheeky dementia. This is a wild entertaining ride. As is often the case with the genre, each number is introduced, or concluded as it is sometimes hard to tell in all this furiousness, by a fun sample from a movie, which is a little distracting and I would have wished for more fluidity at times in order to keep the pressure and the intensity. But then, it is after a prerequisite of the genre, like macho dancing is to New York hardcore or expensive shirts are to oi. The lyrics are aptly ridiculous as Fastard pretended to be into gory satanism, torture or just plain horror. Goofy. I'm sure they were fun to see live. The band also released a split Ep with Obsolete from Finland. After Fastard, some members would form the more serious "total crust violence" band Filthpact and Andrew would even do a stint with TRIBE alongside members of Sedition and Scatha (among many others).
This entertaining split was released on Insane Society Records and was dedicated to the Ladronka squat in Prague that was evicted in 2000. On the grand scheme of things, we're not dealing with some sort of forgotten masterpiece but the record is convincing with Dread 101's hard-hitting Swedish-flavoured metallic eurocrust being nicely complemented with Fastard's demented cavemen punky grindcore. And honestly, sometimes that is all you need.
No comments:
Post a Comment