It is fair to say that the aberrant carnival of French electro rockers Freak Injection has been ready to burst from the shadows since the release of their debut EP back in 2017, but surely there will be no containing their glorious deviancy once their first album, Daddy Is The Devil is unleashed this April. If that earlier release had us rampantly animated here, their new offering is the source of unbridled lust as it takes all the originality lying within that previous encounter which also embraced the familiar and boils it up to true uniqueness and raucous seduction.
Everything about the Freak Injection electro/industrial bred sound, as the band itself, is about sex, divergence and anomalous imagination but a festival of the bizarre which cannot hide the craft and invention behind its God baiting, Devil teasing orgy. The Freak Is Fashion EP gave potent hints of the rich sounds and devilish corruption shaping Daddy Is The Devil if only hinting at its authoritative distinction which is now devours ears from the album’s first breath.
The invitation of Intro is a minute plus of dark intimation, an electronic parade hinting at the bizarre circus to come, its curtains fully open with next up Freaky Doll. Rhythms instantly pounce, quickly setting the tenacious canter which steers the growing temptation as the guitar of Fernand ‘MAC-F’ Million persistently strikes. With Hector Hell GZ’s beats a contagious incitement alongside the similarly magnetic dark throb of Kevin Corre’s bass, the song swiftly had the body bouncing even before the compelling tones of vocalist Charlie RED brought their siren presence to the devilment. With keys only adding greater bait for eager attention, the track is a calling card for the loss of inhibitions and gaining of bad habits.
The band’s new single, Glitters In Hell, is next and immediately springs an electro pop caress around ears and the golden lures of RED’s voice. There is an underlying darkness and punk aggression to the track which raises its head across the song but cannot defuse the pure radiance of melodies and vocal harmonics or one beauty soaked chorus. A track which just grew and wormed deeper under the skin by the listen it is more than matched by the virulent escapade that is Crosses. A rebellious slice of electro pop ‘n’ roll, there was no resisting its manipulation and lures on body and vocal chords; hooks and grooves as devious as the rhythmic compulsion set by Corre and GZ.
So many images spring in the imagination listening to Evil Raccoon Party! though the zealous animation of feet and hips to its outlandish stomp primarily powered the eager reactions. RED is Queen of the creative Bacchanalia, her vocals a twisted roar on ears and spirit instigating the devilry of song and listener alike while within Sex Me she is a succubus of a temptress spilling sexual predation with every syllable as each musical note revels in punkish eroticism. Like a snake it winds around the listener, squeezing willing submission to its voracious appetite with every twist and hook.
Both Snakeskin and the album’s title track sparked thick captivation, the first another pop infused electro rock incitement brewing bigger and bolder carousing within its calmer instincts relative to its predecessor whilst its successor treats the dance-floor as its own fervent freak show. As rousing and scheming as both are the pair are still overshadowed by the tenebrific soundscape of Monster Town where every dark corner is shone upon by bubbling electronics and provoked by scurrilous rhythms, it all further lit up by the bold character and rich dynamics of RED’s voice.
The seductive intent of Nothing Without You proved unstoppable straight after, its fiery breath and tempestuous heart only adding to the heat of the moment with Sex Voodoo & Rock’N’Roll grabbing the enslavement given by the scruff of its neck and thrusting it into an electro punk cauldron of melodic glamour across the more carnal instincts of rhythms and Million’s ever motivating and enterprising guitar.
The album closes out with Muse Maléfique which provides something akin to a fusion of purgatory and paradise; every breath and touch provoking the imagination and it all delicious temptation. As the first moments of Daddy Is The Devil teased of things to discover within its walls the final minutes kind of summed up what came before whilst opening the veils on its own dominion.
Daddy Is The Devil is an escape from the world and restrictions which sought to chain the freak in us all inside, Freak Injection providing a key with already one of the year’s most exhilarating moments.
Daddy Is The Devil is released April 24th; pre-ordering available now @ https://freakinjection.bandcamp.com/album/daddy-is-the-devil
https://www.facebook.com/Freakinjectionmusic/ https://twitter.com/Freak_Injection
Pete RingMaster 04/04/2020
Copyright RingMasterReview: MyFreeCopyright
The album’s title track follows, blues liquor fuelling its opening flames before a surf kissed breeze courts the controlled but pungent rhythms at its core. As the opener sprung a lure of descriptive intimation in its sound alone so its instrumental successor weaves an even more stirring sonic tale of drama and suggestion to play with before No More follows suit with its shadow wrapped stroll into ears and thoughts. Again every hook carries creative revelation for the imagination to conjure with; the track nurtured in the same suggestive espionage and danger which marked the best themes tunes of sixties and seventies TV shows such as UFO, Space: 1999, The Avengers or The Prisoner.
The album opens with Alien and the introduction to the arrival of a visitor to this complicated planet but as across the album it is a premise which can be just as firmly translated to any misfit, freak, emotional extra-terrestrial feeling out of place in this world. It is a secretive emergence, a calm glide into view which breaks into a rhythmic stroll before an inimitable Mr. Strange like carousel lit saunter takes over. The narrative of the vocals is soon as magnetic as the sounds lighting its observation, the unsurprising catchiness of the band’s swinging electro meets psych rock incitement infesting ears and body alike.
Though their inimitable fusion of electro rock, punk, and alt pop stands well aside of anything else there is a certain Rezillos-esque character to Flesh Tetris especially suggested by their new EP. Their sounds are wide apart but the hook swinging contagion they conjure and the massive grin carrying mischief they spring in enterprise and fun has a close connection to Scotland’s legends.
Diversity is a potent trait within Couch and potently shows its creative worth with next up Tansfläch, the track an electro industrial incitement bearing the Neue Deutsche Welle tempting of a D.A.F. alongside the cold wave theatre of a Kraftwerk, while The Darkest Place adds its own individual new wave lined proposal in the varied mix with contagious appetite and dexterity. In voice and sound, Furio lights up ears and speaker with a virulent touch which is hard to ignore in movement let alone pleasure.
The following Get Out Alive rises with a similar recipe of flavours but quickly sets out its individual character woven on melody, aggression, and eager imagination. As its predecessor, its infectious breath and moves are at odds with but the perfect companion to raw ferocity; again a union which attacks and seduces within a stirring tapestry of sound and texture.
It’s quirky flirtation and bidding is matched by that of the following Carousel, a track bridging the antics of The Shanklin Freak Show and Mr. Strange with nagging boisterousness. Its dark circus is the obverse shade to the mischievous tone of its predecessor, a like-minded but heavier, caliginous counter-part just as devious in its lure of body and vocal chords before the same kind of full captivation is repeated through the electro sizzle of Disco Bitch.
distantly matched through the iniquitous ramble of Sodom Nights featuring the vocal charms of Bridget Gray and immediately after courtesy of the eerily atmospheric, Stygian beauty clad Playground Twist, this another essential offering from the Mr. Strange songbook. It is one of four songs which are exclusive to the download version of the album and as much as a physical copy is forcibly recommended you do not want to miss out of any of the quartet either.
From one outstanding track to another as latest single Metanoia grips the imagination next. An irresistible blend of indie pop and melodic rock, the track bounces in with a bold and catchy gait but one which only builds greater manipulation of body and appetite when it unleashed a blazing romp of a chorus that is something akin to T-Rex meets The Wildhearts. Again hooks and grooves entangle to tempt and enslave as vocals add their own thick persuasion to another of the album’s finest moments.
Pt II opens up with Virtual Insanity, electronic sparkling the gateway to an infernal surge of electro rock predation as ravenously hungry as it is virulently catchy. Even so, its instinctive urgency has an underlying premeditation of devious intent, melodies and calmer but darker twists adding to the track’s inescapable invasion. Something akin to Rabbit Junk meets Fear Factory, the track instantly has the project’s second part off to a flyer but also connects seamlessly to the nature and presence of the first part of Visions Of The Blinded World.