Où va nous ?

Description

It's reassuring to hear a new album from Les Wampas, comforting even, like the smell of a madeleine. Exactly forty years after their first album, Tutti Frutti, the band led by Didier is releasing its fifteenth chapter, titled "Où va nous?" (Where are we going?). A mix of electric fury and uncontained energy, there's still that unique style belonging only to Didier, a cheeky voice mixed up front, because it confidently leads the operations. It's the band's signature. But supporting him are musicians who have found the perfect balance between experience and freshness. One of the goals was to hear the guitars, and for that, they did like Elvis, recording the tracks live. The lyrics evoke the past without being particularly nostalgic, but remind us that the band is part of a history. The one initiated with twist music and perpetuated with the 1977 wave and then alternative rock. This is indeed the band's great particularity: bringing together several generations of binary rhythm enthusiasts, each hearing the influences they cherish. The songs talk about Brittany, where Didier has family roots, about the best band in the world ("Les Coronados"), about imaginary girls, or not, ("Gaëtane"), not forgetting the departed friend Jean-Luc Le Ténia (who already appeared on the Chicoutimi album), among others. There's even a first: a cover of Didier Wampas by Les Wampas: "Punk ouvrier," which is also the title of the singer's recent autobiography, published by Harper Collins. The title track "Où va nous?" could be a reflection on 2025; Didier smiles when it's pointed out to him and assures us it was born because he was tinkering with the bass, and that above all, he had never found it so easy to write a few meaningful phrases... We detect a temporary despondency that gives way to a certain irritation, like an immediate need to wake up and let off steam. It's extremely exhilarating above all, and a perfect introduction to this new album. The time has come to go back, Les Wampas are back!