I know I know everybody knows The Monsters and there isn't much
interest in writing anything about these guys. Well yes and no, I mean yes
for sure they've been around since 1986, spreading
dirty-garage-trash-blues-whatever insanity in all the most filthy and
disreputable bars of the known world
with a certain amount of success. Everybody also knows the
Reverend Beat Man, The Monsters' charismatic leader whose as enigmatic as sparse
haircut keeps fascinating me years after years, a man guilty of having
released countless obscene records under different deviant names over the
years... a man also responsible for one of the most successful European
record label in terms of dirty garage punk blues (or whatever you wanna
call that trash sound), the almighty
Voodoo Rhythm Records
from Berne, Switzerland, which has seen countless glorious bands (King Automatic,
The Come'n Go,
The Dead Brothers
etc...) pass through its sticky fingers since the early 90s... But also no
because I really enjoy their new album a lot more than what I was
expecting (it surprised me to be honest) and I feel like writing a few
words about it.
But let's cut the crap, you and I already know all there is to know about
the four crazy Swiss men so let's have a look
at the well-named You're Class I'm Trash, The Monsters' new
album (would that be the 8th one?).
You're Class I'm Trash is not the type to bother with courtesies, an introductory speech, an introduction track or anything of the sort, fuck that!
You're Class I'm Trash hits you in the face with no warning, starting straight with a bang or
several machine-gun-fast bangs to be precise... yes
Gimme Germs' fastness surprised me, sounding a lot faster (and bloody more
punk) than what I remembered of The Monsters' previous releases.
Damn that's a lot of energy to take right in the jaw for the first song
of a "hardcore rock'n'roll trash" record", and I love it!
And it's only the beginning, the Reverend and his sidekicks keep
hammering a super straight forward kind of crazy filthy rock'n roll punk!
No time for lame solos, bridges or whatever kind of shit you wanna put in
a song, The Monsters aim straight for the throat!
Of course the pace comes back to the band's usual tempo at some point,
the perfect excuse for the four alpines lunatics to make their instruments roar and get lost in a maze
of dissonant and noisy noises from which they (miraculously) always fall back on their muddy boots (even after venturing into a parody of high-pitched,
childish lullaby at the end of Carpool Lane). But, as we get into
the vocals topic, the reverend spends most of his time actually yelling,
screaming way too loud in all directions, barking in your eardrums and
bellowing insanities at the top of his lungs at a world too clean and
serious for the religion he preaches with such devotion (amen).
The Monsters are used to fill up their albums with different kind
of trash (no selective sorting here gentlemen), and there's always a
couple of dirty ballads here and there to take a nice and enjoyable breaks
between two shots loaded to death with dirty rock'n roll.
Dead, the deranged post-mortem ballad and its angry follow-up,
Stranger to me, are a great example of this admittedly worn-out but
still devilishly effective trick. Same same for
Yellow Snow Drink (sounds yummy) which is followed by the furious
Electro Bike Asshole, reminding yuppies to go cycle for real or die
(bastards).
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| His name is Beat, Beat-Man |
The Monsters are not only the perfect guests for your young nephew Bar Mitzvah, they're not cheap fuckers either, with 13 tracks in
total (+2 bonus songs with the digital album) of durations varying between
a minute or so and more than four and a half minutes, you get what you pay
for little lady (not like all the grindcore scammers!), and in these times of scarcity where the average patron has to tighten his belt to be able to pay his monthly dose of black ethinyl, it's highly
appreciated.
After a couple of more great (but insane) touching love
declarations (including the weird Devil Baby which quickly turns
into some kind of wicked church choir), it's finally time to conclude (until
next time) and what's best to end such a beautiful moment of worship than
a proper Requiem hum? Yes yes yes and that's exactly what we get thanks to
the help of
Mario Batkovic
(who usually plays nicely the accordion rather than the harpsichord with
crazy bands in red suits)... a good excuse for the band to let loose its
delirious imagination in the pleasant clip below.
So yes You're Class I'm Trash is a good album (another one you'll say) and there is no point in sulking about it. Finally an album that will satisfy all the spiritual needs of your damned souls yes...
Fun fact the album is also available in Swiss-German (I mean all the vocals were also recorded in that language, one of the four official languages of the mighty country of Switzerland) and will be out on Slovenly Recordings in February 2022.
The album is then named Du Hesch Cläss, Ig Bi Träsch, which makes sense I guess.
Anyway, you've got it now I hope, monsters do exist and they're not done terrorizing your nights.
Consider yourself warned.
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| picture by Patrick Principe |
