5 out of 5

Label: Araki, Burning Sound Records, Clou, Donnez-Moi Du Feu, Epicericords, Et Mon Cul C’est Du Tofu?, Gnougn Records, Jarane, Rita Distro, Tandori

Produced by: L’Austral (Chafouin); Lapin (Lapin, mixed by); de Dan (Lapin, mastered by)

Sure, in the middle of a long run of arty, exciting, and experimental albums of indie / kraut- / mathrock and other herky-jerky (yet poppy?) permutations, the delightfully varied Chafouin team-up with fellow genre-breakers Lapin for a split LP of utter delights, the former band doing a kind of more focus La Colonie des Vacancies smash of noise; the latter a particularly French, angular spin on Yamantaka // Sonic-Titan choral sturm and drang. Now you either threw up 100 times from how obnoxious all this sounds, or you’re heading over to bandcamp immediately to give all this weirdness a spin. I would, of course, encourage the latter: Chafouin has a magical ability to turn a lot of generally wanky indie rock traits of artifice into something very organic and, despite all the terms I threw out, consistent – it’s very humble; and Lapin are a great surprise to me, introduced via this split but providing a really gorgeous take on noise pop on their solo record – sort of the more daring direction I’d hoped The Luyas would have taken.

This split flows together well between the two acts, as they play in a kind of similar-sounding high-end range, with a heavy emphasis on beat and melody; at the same time both sides’ tracks also work independently as whole experiences. Chafouin give their low end a much deeper, fuzzier kraut aspect than usual (normally that crops up as interstitial dirges; here, the bass underpins everything), and layers in guitars and whatever else in a mesmeric mélange that nonetheless spits out tracks representing singles. Chafouin are just kinda kings at straddling that line between feeling random but precise, and this split is a very heads-down version of that – the sounds feel especially grounded.

Lapin, as mentioned, effect a bit of performative, Y//S-T style pomp, but by similarly layering in guitars and keys and kind of backgrounding the vocals, it’s not as directly “sing-along” as Y//S-T invites, adding a layer of mystery that fits with Chafouin’s relatively (for them) darker tones.

Just a really unique record all around, constantly shifting and providing new sounds but with enough definition that you can walk out humming along.