As you may have noticed, Joyzine updates have been a little thin on the ground of late. We’re back up to speed now and ready to hit the ground running but first we thought we’d give a nod to some of the great music that was released while we were away, starting with the debut album from post-punk two-piece Deux Furieuses, Tracks of Wire:
Despite the choppy political waters of recent years, from austerity through pig-gate, the Panama papers, Brexit, the Labour leadership turmoil, terrorist attacks and the racial and religious unrest that’s accompanied them (I could go on but you know all of this already); overtly political music has been noticeable primarily by its absence. Where are our Dylans, Lennons and Kathleen Hannas, our Clash, Specials and Crass? Keeping an ear to the airwaves it seems that more often than not we’ve turned to music for escapism, with sweeter, simpler, nostalgia-tinged sounds the order of the day.
If you look for it though there is music out there determined to focus our minds on the issues at hand, Deux Furieuses are one such band and their debut album Tracks of Wire is a seething coil of unconcealed rage; questioning, accusing and standing up to the authorities that have let us down.
The album kicks off in uncompromising style with the choppy drums and four letter tirades of ‘Can We Talk About This?’ and doesn’t look back from there. The pace is unrelenting, surging through the heads-down rock-out chorus of ‘Now You’re Gonna Listen’ and no subject is taboo, perhaps illustrated most pointedly by the slow burn gut punch of ‘Are We Sexy Enough?’ whose devastatingly blunt lyrics take on rape and the portrayal of women and girls in the media. It makes for essential, and necessarily uncomfortable, listening.
Elsewhere, ‘I Want My Life Back’ highlights the band’s command of the loud/quiet dynamic, Vas Antoniadou’s drumming being a highlight throughout – a 360 degree barrage that is equally capable of moments subtle delicacy; ‘Get Nowhere’ explodes from a chugging verse to a fiery grunged up chorus before disintegrating into fractured digital screams and ‘Kill Us’ opens with eerie wails and mechanical beats, morphing into a heavy as hell incitement to revolution with its call to ‘Keep burning down the walls that hold us in our place’.
It’s not all venom and fury however – ‘Dream for Change’ sounds a note of hope amongst the anger, modern revolutionary heroes such as Pussy Riot and Malala Yousafzai are celebrated, while ‘Time to Mourn’ adds a sombre, reflective note with its aching tale of loss of family, history and identity through the eyes of a refugee.
Tracks of Wire is a bold album that seeks to stand up to oppression, to give a voice to those who’ve been dehumanised in society and to shake the listener out of their complacency. It is staunchly feminist and anti-establishment but first and foremost it’s an absolutely fantastic punk album.
Review by Paul Maps
deuxfurieuses.com
Watch the video for ‘Can We Talk ABout This?’