4 out of 5

Label: Africantape

Produced by: Miguel Constantino (recorded by / mixed by)

It starts rather unassumingly, at least for the instrumental math rock world: guitar and drums trio Papeye’s debut La Chaleur drops on the instrumental-math-rock-crowded label Africantape and kicks things off with some early Don Cab-tinged catchiness (and a genre-normative oddball song title: Gym Tonus) but without any overt Albini-enabled crunch, and also without any flashy solos or overt time signature changeups. I could write this off as another fun but ho-hum addition to the crowded scene, except there’s something appealingly confident about the group not trying to blow our minds – and a kind of get-in, get-out brevity – that keeps the music feeling fresh, alongside a sparklingly forefronted recording / mix from Miguel Constantino.

And as the album starts to rack up wins track after track, more of the appeal is sketched in, as Papeye seem to take hints not strictly from stalwarts like DC, but moreso lean into a poppiness that seems informed by 8-bit / 16-bit era games, making The Advantage an aural touchstone. But keep that lighthearted, instantly upbeat vibe in mind and massage in some big, bracing moments from the hardcore splinter of this scene, a la Keelhaul; though I’d never characterize La Chaleur as metal, the group isn’t afraid to (and is skilled enough to) reach for the noisiness and ferociousness of that genre / subgenre, leading to surprising flashes of intensity when the drums breakout and the guitars chugga chugga, but it’s still framed by that rather accessible, 3-minute single vibe.

There’s an atmospheric mid-album break (Fraîcheur Et Saveur) that kind of doesn’t work with this, but I understand its place alongside the unassuming opener and mirroring closer to kind of purposefully level the experience, which helps make its humble-brag approach all the more notable and durable, given how fresh this still sounds a decade+ on.