Ummmmm.....holy shit.
Holy, holy shit. That is pretty much, with all of the eloquence I own
mustered, the only way I know how to describe French Miami. Words don't
really do justice to what this trio brings to the table. Upon
hearing this band for the first time, I really didn't know
what else to say but, well, holy shit.
French
Miami are a band that I have been hearing so much about, for a while
now, but had yet to check out until recently. I kept hearing how amazing this band was,
but for some reason I had neither caught them live nor heard them. Last
week, on April 23rd, all of that fortunately changed.
Walking
into Bottom of the Hill I didn't really know what to expect. On one
hand, I expected greatness because of everything I had heard about
French Miami. But, on the other hand...sometimes when a band gets so
sold to you it becomes impossible to like them. They either inevitably
don't ever sound like what you had imagined them to, and in turn the
surprise is not pleasant, or they get talked up to you so much you are
over them before they even get to begin with you. But man, I couldn't have asked for more from French Miami. I was awestruck, blown
away.
Musically,
they can't really be pigeon-holed. There's dark wave elements and prog
elements, but they aren't just a proggy-dance band.
Vocalist/guitarist/keyboardist Jay's voice has a deep, melodic feel
which calls to mind Guy Picciotto (Fugazi) and Sean McLaughlin (Evergreen),
with some slight Bernard Summers (New Order) for good measure. French
Miami's other guitarist/keyboardist extraordinaire Roland is
mesmerizing to watch perform. Playing complex guitar parts with his
left hand on the neck of the guitar, while often playing keyboard parts
simultaneously with his right hand, it's hard to take your eyes off him
because you want to know what's gonna happen next.
The
rhythms created by Roland and Jay are held together by the powerful,
hypnotic drumming from Chris. The strength and intensity behind Chris's
beats leave you swaying both of your own free accord and in a
trance like state. You really don't have a choice, you will move. But
you'd want to anyway, so it all works out.
The
talent behind the songwriting and the musicianship are overwhelming.
How a three piece is able to create the sound French Miami make is
beyond me. They sound is huge both live and on record. What it comes down
to is that these guys have carefully selected their tones and notes in
such a way that the amount of emotion they are able to conjure up
rivals that of any 30 piece orchestra. Having seen French Miami live
before hearing them recorded, I'm a little biased about their EP, Science Teeth. Clocking in at just under 14 minutes, this 4-song teaser is on of
those EPs you can listen to on repeat for ages and never tire of.
Again, not really dark-wave, not really just prog, but very catchy,
hypnotic, dark rhythms, with an addictive emotional feel. When
listening to Jay sing, "I was getting lost, I was getting loose" in the final song on the EP, "Multi caliber Riffles," you can't help but
think, "Why, I was just doing that..."
Walking
into Bottom of the Hill I didn't really know what to expect. On one
hand, I expected greatness because of everything I had heard about
French Miami. But, on the other hand...sometimes when a band gets so
sold to you it becomes impossible to like them. They either inevitably
don't ever sound like what you had imagined them to, and in turn the
surprise is not pleasant, or they get talked up to you so much you are
over them before they even get to begin with you. But man, I couldn't have asked for more from French Miami. I was awestruck, blown
away.
The
talent behind the songwriting and the musicianship are overwhelming.
How a three piece is able to create the sound French Miami make is
beyond me. They sound is huge both live and on record. What it comes down
to is that these guys have carefully selected their tones and notes in
such a way that the amount of emotion they are able to conjure up
rivals that of any 30 piece orchestra. Having seen French Miami live
before hearing them recorded, I'm a little biased about their EP, Science Teeth. Clocking in at just under 14 minutes, this 4-song teaser is on of
those EPs you can listen to on repeat for ages and never tire of.
Again, not really dark-wave, not really just prog, but very catchy,
hypnotic, dark rhythms, with an addictive emotional feel. When
listening to Jay sing, "I was getting lost, I was getting loose" in the final song on the EP, "Multi caliber Riffles," you can't help but
think, "Why, I was just doing that..."
