Rise & Fall of the Last Civilization – Guttercats (Wishing Well Records/Lucinda Records)
Scratch the surface of the underground rock and roll globe and there’s a whole lot of goodness lurking deep underneath with its roots in myriad and unexpected places. France’s enduring and esoteric Guttercats are a case in point, and this is Album Number Six.
French rock and roll cops a lot of flak – some of it deservedly so. The place is rampant in high culture and the low brow stuff like rock and roll frequently gets trampled on. Deep down, the French do love refinement. But what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger, so it doesn’t pay to judge every book by its Tri-colour cover.
As for the Guttercats you may have heard their name around the I-94 Bar. before. They sprang up in Paris in 2007 and the key member is Guts Guttercat, (ex-Baby Strange) who vocalises and adds occasional acoustic guitar. Guttercats play an amalgam of Stones-crossed-with-early-Alice glammy blues rock. Peter Perrett and Nikki Sudden are obvious reference points. Their music has an intrinsic sense of high drama. Just like Parisian waiters.
Guitarist Chris Waldo is a long-term member and the album should tell you why. The band itself has been all over Europe more times than Thomas Cook (that’s an Anglo joke – in other words: a fucking lot). Right now, they’re in Spain for the 15th time.
“Rise & Fall” is a concept album about the end of the world but if you’re a glass-half-full person, don’t let that put you off. It rocks in a measured sort of way and draws you in via pathways that are not immediately obvious.
The title track that opens proceedings is a sweeping sonic vista full of twang. Consider yourself engaged. Meandering violin imparts tension and otherworldliness to “Aliens Are Back”, a vaguely Roky-esque slice of lyrical whimsy that even manages to namecheck Australia along the way.
“Beautiful Curse” is the lean rocker of the record, a chiming piano counterpoint underpinning the song as Chris Waldo applies some stinging psychedelic guitar. You can’t miss the Ennio Morricone flavouring in the loss-lament remorse of “If You Still Love Me” or the “Sad Vacation” echo in the Thunders-like “Out Of Style”.
The upbeat acoustic-flair of “Wishing On a World” seems at odds with its resigned lyrical anger in a song where Waldo’s nifty guitar sturm und drang again comes to the fore. It’s a satisfying closer to a record that bears repeated listening.
“Rise & Fall…” is on the band’s own Wishing Well Records label, but you can easily hear and procure it via the Lucinda Records Bandcamp.
