PRISONS IMAGINAIRES (vinyl)

Description

It’s already been almost ten years since the “sensitive hooligans” from Brest, Syndrome 81, took on the heavy task of bringing 80’s punk rock back into fashion. In just a few EPs, they have established themselves as representatives of a new French scene internationally. Their recipe is a clever blend of different influences from the second wave of punk, from American hardcore in the vein of Negative Approach, from cold English post-punk like Blitz, and from French punk rock like Camera Silens, to name just a few. Syndrome 81 took the time to refine this cocktail: the melodies are increasingly present, the arrangements even more crafted, the atmosphere even colder, without losing any of the energy of the catchy anthems that define them. This Brest quintet, crystallizing part of the richness past and present of the Grand-Ouest in terms of rock’n’roll (Litovsk, Sordid Ship, The Night Stalkers, Thrashington DC...), seemed like the obvious choice. A perfect compromise between the freshness of a razor blade brushing the inside of your wrist on a gloomy evening and the warmth of a good friendly slap on the back delivered at the entrance of a bar in the Brest harbor, the Bretons combine lyrics weighed down by coastal melancholy and leads as icy as the drizzle of Finistère with riffs that are looking for a fight and cheeky choruses. In a way fully in line with the Street Punk revival that has been going on in France for a few years now (Outreau, Lion's Law, Rixe, Bromure...), Syndrome 81 also stands apart a little by including a good dose of post-punk. Having nothing to envy from the concrete of the Paris suburbs, the gray Breton sky and the boredom haunting its foggy streets give birth to magnificent punk laments. With Prisons Imaginaires, the songs gain even more effectiveness, and one can already imagine the next concerts where the crowd will sing the carefully crafted choruses in unison. Like the music, the lyrics are harsh and cold; they are stories of life in Brest, the far west, far from the capital, far from everything. Syndrome 81 describes like no one else the melancholy of everyday life and the boredom of life in Brest in songs steeped in grayness. Syndrome 81 has been long awaited, while their EPs are snapped up at gold prices and even Russian bands cover their songs... 'Prisons Imaginaires' is only the first album from a band that already has several European and American tours, as well as several legendary European festivals, under its belt.