Creve Couer - Catastrophes

  by Adrian Janes

published: 17 / 4 / 2025

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Creve Coeur (i.e. Heartbreak) unites members of various bands who belong to an evidently fertile noise/post rock milieu in Paris. In that scene’s own terms, this perhaps constitutes a supergroup of sorts; in any case, this debut album, full of fiery playing and singing, befits such expectations. Straight out of the gate, ‘Vertige Noir’ (‘Black Dizziness’) is driven by the crashing drums of the wonderfully named Paul Void and the jagged guitars of Fabien Claes and Valère Brisard. While the exclusively French lyrics of this and the rest of the album might be an obstacle for English speakers, the passion of Corentin Sarkadi, sounding like a Gallic Joe Strummer, certainly communicates his feelings. This track is also an early demonstration of the band’s mastery of dynamics. Subsiding after the early assault, the tension rebuilds to a conclusion of ecstatic layers of guitar, evoking a test of the engines for a new generation of Concorde. ‘Courage’ then takes a figurative breath, a mid-paced track in which bass and guitar pulse tensely while Sarkadi adopts more of a spoken word approach to the lyrics, before a growing collective fervour reaches a feverish conclusion. To place a song entitled ‘120 dB’ in some sort of context, I will quote from the website Audiochamps: “120 decibels is an extremely loud noise that is considered to be at the threshold of human pain.” For some, of course, there can be no higher musical praise; but, regardless of how loud you listen to it, it contains plenty to enjoy, from the rolling, Killing Joke drums and crazed vocals to the sheer energy that by the end irradiates the band’s performance. ‘Faraday’ is probably the best example of Creve Coeur’s sense of control, as it switches back and forth between blazing attack and a laidback, almost jazzy feel, guided by Quentin Dubarry’s wistful and melodic sax, along with Noir’s rimshots and Boris Patchinsky’s restrained bass. With France’s revolutionary inheritance and present-day polarisation, even without knowing precisely what is being said, ‘Politique’ expresses prett0y clearly a powerful discontent, whether through Sarkadi’s declaimed vocals or the interplay between driving drums and droning guitars. Some surreal reverb adds a soupçon of psychedelia, and a shrieking guitar in the coda ups the intensity beyond its already heady level. From its staccato guitar intro onwards, ‘Coup Coup’ speeds along in a manner which evokes the acknowledged influence of Fugazi, in a disciplined collision of thumping drums, dynamic riff and barked vocals. Closer ‘Mathematique’ is several minutes longer than any of the other tracks but remains absorbing, a composition founded upon improvisation that reveals the players’ close attentiveness to one another. Over this extended work-out, marked by a simple chiming guitar figure, the group pace increases, then drops away to just the guitar and Sarkadi’s almost recited lyrics, before a renewed build-up in the final minutes led by grinding guitar and squalling sax, the vocals almost lost in the maelstrom. It’s a climax that brings to mind the quality and power of King Crimson’s ‘Fracture’. It may be too early in the year to speak of its best album, but at the very least Creve Coeur have already set a high bar. Like Michael Faraday, they have conducted some highly successful experiments with electricity – the real catastrophe would be for there to be few witnesses to their achievement.

Track Listing:-

1 VERTIGE NOIR
2 COURAGE
3 120dB
5 FARADAY
6 POLITIQUE
8 COUP COUP
9 MATHÉMATIQUE

Band Links:-

https://www.facebook.com/crevecoeurnoise
https://www.instagram.com/creve.coeur
https://crevecoeur-music.bandcamp.com/album/catastrophes

Play in YouTube:-

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