FRENCH SCENE REPORT (July 2006)
Bands :
In case you’re not aware yet, here is a list of bands that split up in the last two years : STEROIDS (raw punk - one album, two eps, one demo), BOLCHOI (Oi -one Ep + one Lp out), PROTEX BLUE (punk-ska), LYSTERIA (powerful punk), YA BASTA (left-wing ska, one split Ep and three Cd’s out), ANTIBODY (Hc-punk, one album out), HK (noisy/emo/Hc, two Cds out), 20" DE CHAOS (crust-punk-metal, with several releases under their belts), VALUE DRIVEN (old school Hc, one Cd out), LAST QUIET TIME (old school Hc), IN PROGRESS (old school Hc, one split Cd out), LES TRAVAILLEURS DE LA NUIT (ska-punk, one Cd out), LES FEMMES (pop-punk, two albums out)... Many of the individuals involved have started new bands :
It’s a bit silly, but to make things easier to read, I’ve separated bands according to music styles :
Punk/ Oi stuff :
Some ex-members of PITFALL, SECRETOS DEL CORAZON and BRIDWELL HOSPITAL have started a glam/ punk/ rock’n’roll band called SPARKLING BOMBS (two Cds out). I believe KOCHISE have split up ? Despite a couple reunion shows. KOCHISE’s bass player teamed up with two AHORCADOS members to start CRIA CUERVOS (melodic punk-Hc, one Cd, one demo Cd-r out, one new album in the works). She also plays in TURTLE RAMBLERS, a country-punk band, as well as CARTOUCHE, a punk-rock band featuring ex-members of BRIGADA FLORES MAGON. ATTENTAT SONORE are the oldest-running French punk band, they have lots of ep’s/ tapes/ comps out (the latest being an Ep that came out in 2005). METAL URBAIN (’77 punk), BERURIER NOIR, PARABELLUM, and OBERKAMPF, (classic punk bands from the 1980’s) recently got back together, put out a couple albums and played gigs (for money, I guess). THE WARRIOR KIDS (Oï) also play shows from time to time and have put out a new album called "Les vieux cons". KIDNAP and AL KAPOTT also play reunion shows once in a while. I have no more news from HAYMARKET (punk-Hc reminiscent of the Dead kennedys, featuring one ex-member of TOXXIC TV)., nor from THE INFORMERS, starring ex-BRIGADES vocalist’s Vlad. J’AURAIS VOULU play typical French punk-rock, they have one Ep and two Lp’s out. They now play with a real drummer instead of a drum-machine. NEVROTIC EXPLOSION (tight rockin’ punk-rock from Brittany) have put out their second album on a fairly big label, and are working on their third (self-produced ?) one. BACCHUS TEMPLE ADDICTS feature ex members of MASS MURDERERS and MELMOR, they play metallic punk (one 10" out), but don’t play shows too often. LA FRACTION are a famous punk-rock band from Paris with melodious female vocals (two albums + one Ep are available). BRIGADA FLORES MAGON have three Cd’s out (oï) and are working on a fourth one, ACTION DIRECTE (oï/ska) changed their name to MUNDO DI MIERDA and are more crust-punk influenced now. CHARGE 69 are our own ’82 type street-punk band, they feature some guy behind the famous punk-rock label COMBAT ROCK. IRONIX (100% spikey punk) split up after their first Cd but some members started a band called CIDER BREAKFAST (one Cd out, they may have split up as well). SKUDS & PANIC PEOPLE play tight ska-core with political lyrics, they recently put out their third Cd. CORE Y GANG sound a lot like the almighty MELMOR. They play powerful celtic punk (with a violin), and have one split Ep, one Lp, and one split Lp out with DOBERMANN (punk-rock). DOBERMANN have also released a demo, and a brand-new album in 2006. BRIGITTE BOP (tight punk-rock a la LES RATS or SHERIFF) have released 3 albums. One ex-LES PARTISANS member now plays in NO REASON VOICES (punk-rock, two ep’s out). LA ZONE are a new female-fronted punk band with an Lp out on MASS PROD. Speaking of MASS PROD, they just put out 100 RAISONS’ second album. They play tight and original folk-punk. BURN AT ALL are a punk-Hc band who appear on some comps, and have an album out. THE WANTED, from the deep end of Brittany, play raging punk-Hc with political lyrics. HORS CONTROLE are a basic, lo-fi skinhead band with several releases under their belts.
Emo/ new school stuff :
Ex-ALCATRAZ, ex-PEU ETRE, ex-SEASON and ex-HIPPIES OF TODAY members have teamed up to play melodic emo under the name AMANDA WOODWARD (they have several albums out on various international labels). NOTHING TO PROVE have switched from positive Hc to modern emo/ metal/ Hc sounds and have put out a second album, but I haven’t heard from them in a long time... AGHAST are another french emo band (early Ebullition style) from the south of France, they put out three split Cd’s. GAMENESS started as a NyHc band, but now play emo, and have about 3 records out. I haven’t from them in a long time either... MYRA LEE (ebullition style emo) tour quite a lot and have released their first album in 2004. Same goes for LOISIR, their brother-band (in a more emo-rock style). GANTZ have put out a Cd and appeared on a four-way split album (typical emo sound). ROBOTNICKA are a funny electro-punk band, they put out an album on their label MALOKA.
Old school/ Hardcore stuff :
RIGHT FOR LIFE (old school NyHc) will release their third album by the end of 2006. They’ve been around for about 10 years ! NO TIME TO LOSE split up ! But ex-members have started a new and very similar band called NINE ELEVEN (one mini Cd out). UNLOGISTIC (melodic Hc) changed their style to more minimalist straight-forward/ melodic Hc with a drum machine. They have a whole bunch of records out, including a discography Cd. FACE UP TO IT (ex ÖPSTAND and JEAN SEBERG - old style Hc) still play once in a while, at their own pace. Some members have started side-projects like DAYMARE (crust) or GASMASK TERROR (crust-punk). FTX tour a lot, and play typical old school Hc (two records out). BY MY FISTS feature ex-members of HATE PM (one mCd + one comp°) and play old style NyHc. SOUP TOXIC are a long running melodic Hc band. They have one album and one Ep out. IMPLY IN ALL started as an old school Hc band but play metal-core nowadays. Their first record recently came out.
Grind/ crust stuff :
SUBMERGE (featuring ex-members of DISCORDE) is a strong noisy/ grind/ emo/ metal. Check out their discography Cd on the Spanish label Throne records. DISBEER play pure dis-core/ Motorhead-style punk and have a couple Ep’s and Cd’s out. Ex-MURDER ONE and DISRUPTIVE ELEMENT folks re-started an old french Grind/thrash band from the 80’s called THE MAD THRASHERS ; they released a couple Cd-rs, as well as two split Ep’s. VÖMIT FOR BREAKFAST hail from Saint Etienne, they’re France’s most well known thrashcore/ grind act. They share members with COCHE BOMBA, who got back together, but might have split up ?. BLOCKHEADS have a new album out ! They are a long-running, powerful, not too metal, grindcore band. TEKKEN still play lo-fi, goofy grindcore and have released hundreds of tapes and split records. SICKNESS (crust) appeared on various comps, Ep’s, and recently released a split Lp with an American band. GEORGE BITCH JUNIOR have one Lp and one split Ep available. If you dig Spazz, you’ll like them.
Look out for those new bands : REVIVE (old school Hc, first mini Cd out on a German label), HHM (riot grrrls, first album out soon), BACKSIGHT (old school Hc, one miniCd out), SENS INTERDIT (punk), LUTECE BORGIA (Oi, one mCd, and one split Ep out with THE JANITORS (Oi), KTS (punk-Oi), ASIDE FROM A DAY (metal-core, two Cd’s out), SLEAZY JOKE (punk, one Ep + one Lp out), YOUSSOUF TODAY (old school Hc, their first Ep is out), ARRACH (punk-Hc, first mini Cd available), GU GUAI XING QIU (technical/experimental grindcore), PLAINE CRASSE (anarchopunk), ELYSIUM (grindcore), BOOTER (noisy-Hc a la Born against), LOUT SOCIETY KURSE (crust, one Lp out), STRONG AS TEN (old style Hc), BRIXTON CATS (punk-rock, one demo and one album out), etc, etc.. That’s it for bands. Of course there’s more, but these are the ones who put out records. Read zines if you want info on more unknown ones, Ok ?
Zines :
There are basically no zines in English around here, but I’ll drop a couple names : EARQUAKE, france’s biggest punk/ Oï/ Hc zine (in French - over 80 issues out, although it comes out less regularly nowadays). WE’RE GONNA FIGHT (SxE/ Hc/ punk/ Oï) is also worth checking out (write me for addresses !). Maybe I should also mention two big zines that are kinda French equivalents to MRR, Heart attack, Punk planet, etc : KEROZENE (noisy, emo, pop, rock, punk, hardcore) and SEDITION (emo, metal, Hc, noisy...). But both might no longer see the light of day...
Labels :
PANX has slowed down a lot label-wise, but he still runs one of the biggest french web-sites. Huge database there (photos, MP3’s, distro...) ! TIEN AN MEN (distributed by DARBOUKA) regularly put out ep’s by bands from far-off countries (Iran, Iraq, ex-USSR, South America, etc). MALOKA released and distribute hundreds of international punk, Hardcore, crust records, zines, pamphlets... (Lecsa punk, LES TRAVAILLEURS DE LA NUIT, ROBOTNICKA, YA BASTA, etc)... STONEHENGE has a pretty big online mailorder, and put out several records by international emo/ Hc bands. MASS PROD still organizes lots of concerts, and puts out (punk) records on a regular basis : NEVROTIC EXPLOSION, LA ZONE, BURN AT ALL, The don’t cares, Inner terrestrials... RATBONE : (Hc/ crust) HEIMATLOS, FACE UP TO IT.... RURAL MUZIK : (punk-rock ; The filaments, AL KAPOTT...), TRAUMA SOCIAL (punk-rock : BRIGITTE BOP, GILBERT ET SES PROBLEMES, SENS INTERDIT, ROUGE KIT HASCH...), SOLITUDE URBAINE : (punk-rock, Oi) BRIXTON CATS, LES ORTIES, Klasse kriminale, Opcion K-95. Etc etc...
Distros :
I’ll just drop a few distro names (the biggest and most reliable). Panx, Boisleve, Overcome, Maloka, Stonehenge, Emergence, Walked in line, New wave, Mass prod, Burn out, Kanivo chaos, Guerilla front, Punkahontas, High hopes, etc... (if you wanna deal with one that doesn’t appear on this list, write and ask me first).
Web sites :
The biggest and most interesting ones are those : from there, you can follow the links and find out about our whole scene !
http://www.panx.net, http://members.aol.com/rafdiy, http://www.stonehengerecords.com, http://www.multimania.com/fourdu (on old French bands), http://www.massprod.com, http://www.chez.com/maloka, http://www.punk-hardcore.info
Politics :
People interested in politics, antisexism, antiracism, anticapitalism, whatever, should contact the hardest-working organization in France : Maloka, BP 536, 21014 Dijon cedex.
People interested in animal rights can check out : www.vegetarisme.info. There are very few squats in France that are "socially active", you can find them in most major cities, but they usually don’t last long ; Alternation in Paris, Les tanneries in Dijon (the longest-running French squat, where they organize shows regularly), La colo in Grenoble...
You can also check out this cool online libertarian library. They specialize in books, magazines, fanzines, and videos. They carry items in French and English : http://www.la-petroleuse.com
And now onto some personal plugs (did ya really think I was doing this for free ?!?) : I run a fairly big web-zine/ Hc resource at http://punk-hardcore.info (international scene reports, interviews, reviews, photos, MP3s, etc - send your stuff in !). Currently available on my label : New days rising (punk-Hc compilation, 8 international bands, 20 copies left !) + Agent 86 (Classic US punk-Hc from 1985-1990, discography, 20 copies left !) + MDC (Us Hc re-release, their two first Lps, 20 copies left !) + ASIDE/ SHORTCUT split cd (two albums = two fast & raging Hardcore bands from France) + TAKE NO HEROES (international old school Hc comp : 10 bands from 10 countries, 70 minutes) + FEUD (filippino political old school Hc, latest album) + OI POLLOI "six of the best" (6 Ep’s one one Cd, classic Scottish Oi/punk, 20 copies left !). I also run a big NON-PROFIT punk/ Hc/ SxE/ crust distribution with thousands of records from around the globe, check out the website !
For more info on French stuff and for contact addresses don’t hesitate to write us. We also wish to help travellers. We can put you up, show you around, etc.. But only punk/ Hc people please. NEW ADDRESS :
Boisleve, 3 place Adrien Ruelle, 05400 Veynes, France
Email : coinxxxcoin@yahoo.fr
addresses :
Earquake, Fred Leca, Le ménil, 88160 le thillot.
Panx, Bp 5058, 31033 Toulouse cedex. (http://www.panx.net)
Darbouka/Tien an men c/o Fréderic Brahim, 17 rue de la forêt, 67340 Menchoffen. (darbouka@netcourrier.com)
Ratbone/ Scream zine, BP 11, 33023 Bordeaux Cedex. (http://ratbone.free.fr)
Stonehenge, Bp. 46, 33031 Bordeaux cedex. (http://www.stonehengerecords.com)
Burn out, 2, rue de la Colinette, 51110 Bourgogne (http://www.burnoutzine.net)
Addresses in Paris :
Sonic machine, 143 rue St Maur, 75011 Paris (record shop)
Le Kiosk, 21 ter rue voltaire, 75011 Paris (anarchopunk infoshop)
Librairie parallèles, 47 rue Saint Honoré, 75001 Paris (alternative record, book and zine shop)
Le Silence de la rue, rue Faidherbe, 75011 Paris (record shop)
Born bad, 17 r Keller 75011 Paris (record shop)
Monster melodies, 9 rue des déchargeurs, 75001 Paris (record shop)
Plus de bruit, 35 rue de la Rochefoucault, 75009 Paris (record shop)
Librairie Publico, 145 rue Amelot, 75011 Paris (anarchist library)
Violette and co, 102 rue de charonne, 75011 Paris (feminist library)
Quilombo, 23 rue voltaire, 75011 Paris (antifascist library)
Addresses in Lyon :
La gryffe, 5 rue S. Gryphe, 69007 Lyon (anarchist library)
Street 69, 4 rue de la fronde, 69005 Lyon (record shop)
Addresses in Dijon :
Maloka, 61 rue Jeannin, 21000 Dijon (anarchopunk collective)
Les Tanneries, 17 bd de Chicago, 21000 Dijon (squat)
Addresses in Besancon :
Le salon de musique, 15 r Claude Pouillet, 25000 Besancon (record shop)
Addresses in Rennes :
Rockin’Bones, 7 rue Motte Fablet, 35000 Rennes (record shop)
Rennes musique, 19 rue du Marechal Joffre, 35000 Rennes (record shop)
Addresses in the Basque area : Patxoki, 23 bis rue des Tonneliers, 64100 Bayonne (self managed place)
Addresses in Beauvais :
Le Rockstore, 29 rue Beauregard, 60000 Beauvais (http://www.wilrecords.com) (record shop)
Addressses in Bréssuire :
Larsen musik, Passage de la poste, 79300 Bréssuire (http://angelito.larsen.free.fr) (record shop)