Terminal Boredom wrote...

V/A Tete de Bebe LP
 A few years after the release of the quite decent Babyhead LP, which showcased the best in up and coming unconventional punk, S-S Records is back with its much more impressive French counterpart. Like a lot of people, Ive been keen on the fuzzed out sounds coming from France lately on labels like Profet, Nasty Product, and Yakisakana, but Tete de Bebe focuses its attention on the more forward thinking electro-punk scenes of Paris, Strasbourg and Brussels and for that I am thankful, as this is the best comp Ive heard in years. Crack und Ultra Eczema start things off and set the bar high with Testicle, which begins with a dreamy chant of I want your testicle before erupting into a sonic maelstrom thatll fuck your brain. Everything Ive heard from them has really impressed me and Ive been killing myself waiting for their album to cross the Atlantic. Le Club des Chats follow with a short, spastic burst of gratification along the lines of a more fucked up Kleenex or Erase Errata. Dragibus contribute the catchiest song with fey female vocals and ridiculous lyrics about crocodiles, frogs and banana trees (theyre a childrens band), which on paper shouldnt work, yet it somehow does. The Suicide-esque drone of The Electric Guitars is next and the doubled up, female vocal tracks never cease to freeze me in my tracks whenever I hear them. Crash Normal do their best Intelligence impression with Bad Way to Get Fun and its fantastic. You know face A (ie. side 1) is incredibly strong when the only ordinary song is the closer by Lili Z. The flip has Lili in much better form on the Volt track Kein Mensch with its absurdly fierce sounding guitars. Belgium gets the next two with Lawrence Wasser contributing Piggy on a Rooftop, a dancy screecher that fucks with things enough to remind me of Sick Lipstick, which is a good thing. Kania Tieffer follows with a charmingly jagged series of beeps and whirrs that somehow fits, right before Cheb Samir & The Black Souls of Leviathan let loose with some fucking cool sounding slide guitar that collides head on with an asshole tight, hyperactive rhythm section on one of the records strongest songs. The Normals are next with Mud which is good, but it sounds a bit out of place as its so straightforward. Finally, Cheveu contribute La Truite a pulsating noise blast with brain bending drums, a catchy guitar riff and sporadic, incomprehensible vocals, which work perfectly to end the album. Seriously folks, this record is first-rate shit and deserves to be heard by as many people as possible. The scary thing is that France still has a pile of great, new bands not featured on the comp that are pushing the boundaries just as successfully as the bands featured here. Squeletor Papa, A.H. Kraken, 1981, Feeling of Love, it just never seems to end. An explosion seems to be taking place and this is a perfect place to hear it start. (JG) Summer 2006 http://www.terminal-boredom.com/

Agony Shorthand wrote

I know that when Scott Sorianos S-S RECORDS seeks to put a comp together, his stated model follows the anything-goes art/punk nexus of the early 80s Los Angeles scene comps put out by Mike Watt & Spots New Alliance and New Underground labels. These include Chunks, Cracks In The Sidewalk and the three volumes of the Life Is.... Series compilations that would juxtapose punk scene heavy hitters of the day like Black Flag, The Minutemen, The Germs and the like with jazzbo and experimental musicians from around the LA basin. After listening to this new LP from S-S of modern French acts, I know two things for sure that the label has followed the New Alliance/New Underground model in a cohesive and exciting manner (better than their US/UK comp Babyhead from a couple years ago), and that the 2006 French avant-rock/punk scene has got some serious, serious heft to it. On point #2, we already knew that when we picked up those outstanding latest 45s by FRUSTRATION and CHEVEU, and earlier still when we heard records by the Royal/Polly Magoo crew centered around VOLT, LILI Z and CRASH NORMAL, but its nice to know there are even more hungry & wild young pups coming up through the French rock farm system.

In France, it appears, electronics and distortion combined with raw & panicked guitars rule the roost at least until it doesnt. Best of breed awards go to CHEB SAMIR AND THE BLACK SOULS OF LEVIATHAN, who pull off a sort of antique, thrown-together primitivism that makes first-LP GORIES sound sophisticated, and the continually fantastic CHEVUE, who almost never sound the same song to song (this time theres lots some Eastern snake charmer keyboards over metronomic drums & shorted-out guitar, on a brief instrumental that you wish was three times as long). Theres also the weird, dislocated spazz-out Testicle by CRACK UND ULTRA ECZEMA , followed by a great 45-second artpunk flutter by LE CLUB DES CHATS that mightve been performed by JOANNA WENT or 1/2 JAPANESE twenty-five years ago. Nothing save for the kiddie band DRAGIBUSs number is anything but first-rate on this LP, and even Dragibus are a whopping hit with the youngest preschool-age member of our household. So its clear that Tete De Bebe has something for all comers, and clearer still that that trip to the dark clubs and cellars of Paris has simply got to happen before this unique & special little scene implodes. (Jay Hinman, July 3, 2006) http://agonyshorthand.blogspot.com/