Before I review the CD itself though, I wanted to talk about them packaging, because as you can see from the cover above it's pretty special.
Dodgy photo apart, the CD and liner booklet comes in an awesome five panel, foldout sleeve encased in that funky artwork.
Inside, the CD is housed in a further black envelope, with the foldout liner notes and more Spirograph inspired artwork. All in all it's really nice and there's more and more of this type of packaging being produced by DIY labels which is certainly better than the drab, plain plastic CD cases that mainstream labels are using.
Onto the CD itself then....
Tracklist:-
1. Desordre
2. Cercles
3. Longtemps
4. Raclure
5. Morts De Rire
6. Murmures
On first listen to Desordre, Aguirre have a kind of
garage-punk twinned with AFI style sound. It's not as harsh as some of the previous
music I've reviewed. The vocals are a mix of spoken/sung/screamed and all in
French. The guitars a clean, melodic and the drums throw out some great
rhythms. They certainly like the instrumental side of screamo, as the vocals
are used sparingly. When they are used though, they do jump out at you thanks
to clear production and their position in the mix. The sound of Cercles is more
discordant to begin with, the guitars taking on a fuzzier slant. The song
overall in more chaotic and punky, but the mid-passage is really danceable.
It's also more stop-start in nature, which adds impact to the different
sections.
It's an eye opener listening to different country’s takes on
screamo because each band brings their own influences to the fore and plays with
a subtle originality when held up against their peers. Aguirre are no exception
to this, with each song on the record sounding different. Longtemps has more of
a downbeat and menacing feeling to it. The same riff plays through the verses, creating a kind of
droning effect. The choruses are more chaotic, especially with the added weight
of the bass in the mix. There's a definite DIY element to the music too.
Aguirre are quite happy to play what they want to and how they want and with
that they retain integrity.
Raclure is initially a calmer song, without the chaos of
Longtemps before it. It features a long instrumental build up and then Aguirre jump
back into full flow. There's a lot going overall in Aguirre's music and with
repeat listens you'll uncover more and more. The contrast between the
quieter/Noisier parts of their music are very effective and they don't rely on clichéd
musical influences, instead going for a more punk inspired tone.
That tone carries on into Morts De Rire. The guitars again
flit between discordance and clean, melodic riffs. The way that Aguirre
structure their songs makes them seem longer than they actually are, which is
an interesting skill to have. As a band they don't write particularly long
songs, but I guess the stop start motion changes how you perceive them.
Murmures closes things of in the same way that the CD started. More angular but
equally danceable and listenable.
Overall, this CD has something very individual about it.
It's not your usual screamo record and Aguirre definitely have their own
personality and sound. It's well worth picking up.
This CD isn't streaming anywhere so you'll just have to pick up a copy via the below labels:-
Orchidscent Records - http://orchidscentrecords.blogspot.co.uk/
Dream Comes True - http://dreamcomestruehxc.free.fr/ (Site currently under construction but eventually it'll be live)
Emotionally Unstable - http://emotionallyunstablerecords.over-blog.net/
Aguirre are on Myspace at http://www.myspace.com/familleaguirre.
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