Steeple Remove - Position Normal

  by Dave Goodwin

published: 23 / 12 / 2015

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Review

By all accounts Steeple Remove are one of the hottest acts from across the channel at the moment. This new album, ‘Position Normal’, is their fourth offering and their first in six years. They mix together a pop-tinged new wave and kraut orientated dance-rock sound. The band themselves are Arno Van Colen (vocals, keyboards), Mana Audisio (guitar), David B (bass, keyboards) and Walter Thomas (drums) and, having played together since the 1980s, hail from the French town of Rouen. Steeple Remove are signed to Thirdside Records in conjunction with famous French label Sordide Sentimental which, founded in 1978 by Jean-Pierre Turmel and Yves Von Bontee, released some of the early music of Joy Division and Throbbing Gristle. Three of the tracks on here have been featured in ‘Les Revenants’, a French supernatural series which won an International Emmy for Best Drama Series a couple of years back. It is not really surprising, to be honest, as Steeple Remove’s music is a perfect match for that kind of programme. Think of films like ‘The Crow’and the soundtrack to it, and Steeple Remove have a similar moody, melancholic sound. They come across as a mix of Bauhaus with a slight drop of Killing Joke and a healthy dose of Throbbing Gristle of whom they cite themselves influenced by a great deal. ‘Position Normal ‘is a retro-sounding affair. Like a lot of bands, Steeple Remove are trying to emulate the late seventies/early eighties psychedelic goth new wave sound. But there are few bands who do it this good. The uptempo ‘Mirrors ‘starts the album and leads to ‘Silver Banana’ which, as well as being strangely named, has some very curious lyrics. This is followed by an excellent version of Throbbing Gristle’s ‘Unclean’, which is not just a tribute to them but also has a great sound too. After ‘Sunshine’, halfway in it takes a slower turn with ‘Invisible Lights’, a track soaked with heavy reverbed guitars and faint eerie vocals. ‘Home Run’ closes the album out in style. At nearly seven minutes in length it's probably the most poppy track on the album until around five minutes into it when it Jekyll and Hydes into a lo-fi monster and skulks away into the night. Incidentally, they state one of their influences/sounds as being that of another French band Mathematiques Modernes, a band I know from my youth. I bought their vinyl album ‘Le Visiteurs du Soir’ which was released in 1981, and which like ‘Position Normal’ is well worth a listen

Track Listing:-

1 Mirrors
2 Silver Banana
3 Unclean
4 Sunshine
5 Invisible Lights
6 Calling Up
7 Activation
8 Imaginary Girl
9 Home Run

Band Links:-

https://www.facebook.com/SteepleRemove

Label Links:-

http://gonzairecords.com/
http://www.gonzai.com/
https://www.facebook.com/Gonzai.magazi
https://twitter.com/gonzai
https://www.youtube.com/user/gonzaimag