Ain't That Mayhem

Description

If their recent collaborations with Virginie Despentes and Béatrice Dalle have given the Lyonnais the spotlight they deserve, this is just the most recent chapter in a story that began young over 25 years ago with Eric Aldéa, already accompanied by drummer Franck Laurino. Within Deity Guns (89-93) and then Bästard (93-98), and through a handful of albums (including productions by Lee Ranaldo of Sonic Youth and Andy Briant of Tortoise), they have simply been pioneers of post-rock in France. It will take more than one listen to uncover the multiple mechanisms that animate this strange machine that it seems to be, unfolding its meanders without a predetermined order, opening traps when the path seems clear, revealing exits at the end of dead ends. And yet. And yet it seems that Zëro has created their most accessible album here. As complex as it is, this "Ain't That Mayhem?" ultimately opens so many entry points to different musical cultures that it reveals itself from the very first listen. Like a traveler paralyzed at the thought of pushing open the door of a chaotic and potentially haunted old manor to find refuge, we don’t know what we will find behind all this. But we enter.