City Weezle: Taboo

Welcome to the weird world of City Weezle, a French/Irish foursome that will have your head spinning from the first song to the last. The album is called Taboo, their first full length CD having released a couple of demos prior. In the band are Simon Fleury (vocals, guitar, banjo), Maxime Gibon (bass, clarinet), Benjamin Violet (guitar, violin) and Al Uchida (drums).

One look at the slightly disturbing cover and I just knew this was not going to be an easy listen.

This music on Taboo is extremely difficult to describe, mostly because the band is all over the musical map delving into hard rock, metal, funk, jazz, prog, opera, fusion and probably a few more genres that I missed. That is the problem with Taboo. The band throws everything into the pot, including the kitchen sink and the end result is a tad messy. There is no denying the band displays exemplary musicianship and there is something about their quirky nature that is charming but this music is just too disjointed to be really enjoyable, at least to these ears.

The first song "Hot Potato" is a case in point starting with off kilter rhythms leading into a funky groove before the tempo changes with rapid fire drumming and vocals that are definitely an acquired taste. This is followed by a jazzy section which leads into operatic style vocals and Violet's pretty violin textures. Some Queen-like bombast follows before voice samples and other strange effects settle in and edgy guitar rhythms ends the song the way it began. There are some parts that work but it is just all too much with little flow between the different sections. The twisted "Cunning Linguistics" is pretty good musically with more fractured guitar rhythms and dissonant clarinet but the screaming vocals kind of ruin it for me. Another strange one is the funky meets hillbilly rave up "Welcome to Hicksville" with its heavy riffs and squelching clarinet but the screaming vocals just don't seem to fit.

Probably my favourite song is the eclectic "El Mutador" where dissonant guitar phrasings and Latin style acoustic guitar makes for an interesting combination. The addition of violin playing off of the acoustic melodies really works. However, the vocals don't, which pretty well sums it up for me.

City Weezle no doubt have potential but Taboo is just too outlandish for its own good. If, however, you appreciate the highly experimental and avant-garde by all means give it a try. For everyone else – proceed with caution.

Track Listing:
1. Hot Potato
2. Cunning Linguistics
3. Welcome to Hicksville
4. Taboo
5. Mary Jane
6. El Mutador
7. Fair Game
8. Abuse
9. Nimformation
10. The Leprechaun
11. The Creeps
12. Farmhouse Love

Added: March 24th 2011
Reviewer: Jon Neudorf
Score:
Related Link: Band's MySpace Page
Hits: 2455
Language: english

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