4 out of 5

Label: Murailles Music / Discos Mascarpone

Produced by: LTT!!!, Manu Laffeach

Art rock can be hard to review. Where do you start? What do you criticize? Sometimes the artifice – if that’s a factor – is the “point;” and sometimes the wide range of influences forms a circle, of bands drawing from bands drawing from bands, washed in some musical theory smarts, making it hard to pick at what that group or artist may be drawing from.

I would’ve described La Terre Tremble!!!, earlier on, as some kind of indie folk rock, then math rock band. On Fauxbourdon, their fifth album, LTT!!! confirm their status as art rock, swirling those aspects of their sound with… everything, making that circle of influence a snake eating its own tail, the band drawing as much from themselves as whatever else, and elevating / escalating / evolving their music into a hodgepodge of indie folk and math rock, …and then also psychedelia, and funk, and new wave? There’s an undercurrent of confidence propelling all of this – which is different from the bravado or intelligentsia that maybe distractingly fuels other art rock projects – keeping the album’s varying styles synchronized, though that consistency can also be found in the somewhat oblique lyrics, and a certain entranced singing style, which operates in a sort of humdrum monotone, balanced to that song’s mood.

There are references which stick out here, but I imagine they’ll be relevant to whatever you’re listening to. For me, there’s a glittery folk pop element that feels somewhat Brit Pop, but Champion Kickboxer comes to mind; then the group goes dour, and I hear Timber Timbre; or the performative psych of Rhythm of Black Lines. But overwhelmingly what sticks out – and always has done – is the intricacy of the performances and production, which have just gotten better and better. If I’m still reaching for name drops, LTT!!! are not nearly as math as Horse Lords, but there’s a linking precision: sudden wiggles in guitar or percussion that are affected just so, just for what’s needed, and then on to the next one.

If there’s a complaint here, it’s only that Fauxbourdon occasionally pushes too hard on the stylistic kitchen sink. A couple of songs buck a flow that’s going, when we suddenly get a drastic change in tone. When you step back and can consume the whole album a few times, these songs fit in better, but the initial effect is there, and rather frustrating in how it upsets an otherwise seamless, mesmerizing experience.

This is almost not a complaint, though, as there’s nothing about this that doesn’t make you not want to revisit the album and understand more.