The Monsieurs - Self-Titled
I first heard about The Monsieurs since Hilken Mancini is a member. I've been a fan of her work since first hearing Fuzzy back in 1996, and have followed her career ever since. When I heard she was in a new band, I expected more of the cheery alterna-pop that characterized Fuzzy, or maybe something more on the lines of her collaboration with Chris Colburn. Instead what I got was some of the fuzziest, sludged out garage rock I've heard in ages. This album is loud. And noisy. Really, really noisy. But it's also catchy as hell. "Wolves" has a "bah bah bah bah" chorus followed immediately by a furious thrash of guitar and some kind of vocal. On first listen, you might turn away thinking it's just obnoxious noise, but as you listen, you can peal back layers to find the nuggets of actual songs within. The rest of the band is rounded out by Andy Macbain and Erin King. I can't stress how pleasantly surprising this album is. Usually as a musician...