Between brutal noise and fine poetry, this fresh blossoming quintet pushes Rimbaud into saturated guitars. A first EP has just been released, carried by the song “Decor”.
Posted today at 4:38 p.m.—
Mauvais Sang, a group founded in Geneva in 2016, mixes poetry and “noise” rock. With Sara Flores Montes (harp), Mathieu Vasey (keyboards), Valérian Burki (bass), Antoine Vercellotti (drums), Mathis Saunier (guitar) and Léo Simond (vocals).
ALINE ZANDONA
A master stroke for a first. We did not know Bad Blood, neither of Eve nor of Adam. His biography remains enigmatic? The group is said to have its roots in Geneva. When, at the end of 2020, we discover this unadorned email, without image, a click on the audio link slipped between the paragraphs will have been enough to convince oneself of the interest that this music covers.
A song in particular imposes itself on the listener: this “Scenery” in roller coaster. It is first of all a voice, solitary, barely underlined by the clicking of chopsticks. How sweet is this timbre, even caressing, this song that seems to have escaped from a baroque mass. In this almost total silence, the text unfolds brick by brick, advancing inexorably, revealing an underlying tension. Here are some devilishly poetic words, each word weighed, each sentence perfectly articulated: “To hell with the decor, narrow and restricted which puts us to sleep, awakens us with desires, clings like a guest who remains …”. So, everything explodes in a chaos of saturated guitar, angry drums, heavy bass. As fair for those who appreciate the rock style of furious breaks. We were floating in the Rimbaldian ether. Here emerges the phantom of no wave, scratched with metal shine, in a noisy release where noise and other demented abuse collide. Violence, power, excess decibels. Counter-literature declaimed as close to the ear as possible. This Bad Blood has infected ours. We are addicted.
Bad blood. We want to know who is trafficking behind this blaze. In fact of name, this one is borrowed from the French director Leos Carax, who made it the title of one of his films, crossover to the skin between Juliette Binoche and Denis Lavant. Carax who had himself stung it from Rimbaud, of which it is the title of a long and vertiginous writing on the pagan roots of the poet. Finally, it is another Léo, Simond of his surname, who explains the genesis of Mauvais Sang, the rock group.
This clash between literature and noise turns out to be formidably effective
They are six in the gang. Sara Flores Montes on harp, Mathieu Vasey on keyboards, Valérian Burki on bass, Antoine Vercellotti on drums. Mathis Saunier, on guitars, announces himself as the main designer of the project, with Léo Simond, on vocals, himself author of the texts. The group was born in Geneva in 2016, from a “fusion” between classical musicians from the Conservatory and a band from current music. The precipitate will definitely take two years later. In March 2020, the group gives their first concert. Just before the arrival of the Covid.
This clash between literature and noise, if not new, is proving to be extremely effective. This is notably due to the writing of Léo Simond, 21, a literature student inspired by both Aragon and Houellebecq. And Noir Désir, Dominique A and Rodolphe Burger, adds the person concerned. Sacred heritage for this crew claiming a distinguished extravagance. Today appears a first EP, five tracks on the line. While waiting for the album. And the stage.
