Sixteen black bullets from a rusted silver revolver and a dust covered, blood stained bottle of whiskey. With touches of ‘Surfer Rosa’ Pixies, ‘In Utero’ Nirvana, Von Bondies, Queens of the Stone Age and more than their fair share of brilliance. Le Chat Noir are a band blessed with balls of steel, drums of war and riffs fatter than Pavarotti’s backside!

Consisting of an English bloke (Teddy Hesper) and an American girl (Eileen Spruce) formed over transatlantic demo exchanges, now united in blighty to take on all comers.

That live rawness you only get from recordings by bands infused with true punk ethos. A very American, Detroit garage sound but with odd drops of Englishness scattered about here and there, a bit like The Subways, Sons and Daughters, The Kills and Ash and hints of some 90’s UK grunge bands like Three Colours Red. Hesper’s superbly vintage, guttural guitar sound is deliciously thick, like a sonic breezeblock and just as solid. While Spruce’s drums could lead a Roman army into battle, phenomenally huge and bursting with aggression, I doubt even the incredible hulk could hit those skins any harder. Easily the best female rock drummer I’ve heard since the likes of Kate Schellenbach (Beastie Boys, Luscious Jackson) Maureen Tucker (Velvet Underground) or Samantha Malone (Hole) and I doubt bookies would even take bets on her beating the living shit out of ol' Ms White!

There’s a gloriously retro feel to ‘Tales of Silver City’, nods to 70’s punk in ‘Mary Lee’ and ‘Sam Colt and the Devil’ both having shades of MC5, The Ramones, The Clash and Stiff Little Fingers. There’s something of a delta blues texture running through the backbone to, ‘Dead Man Walking’ sounds like Metallica’s take on a Muddy Water’s riff. Lyrically it’s all very blues as well, "I woke up this morning, with an empty bottle of gin", "my stories almost over now darlin’ you gotta die instead".

There’s a stout narrative in a lot of the songs, with a strong western theme. "Well the barman told me to leave and never come back to this town" "the sheriff came after me, I shot him in the back down by the old town cemetery" you could see this album making an excellent soundtrack to new breed of raw western film, if Quentin Tarantino ever fancied a stab at the genre, he could do a lot worse than look to Le Chat Noir for contributions to his always exceptional soundtracks. They’re dark, murderous fables of fistfights and shoot outs through liquor-blurred eyes and hate filled hearts.

For a debut album from a newly formed, unsigned band, ‘Tales from Silver City’ reaches heights only a band touched with true greatness could even get close so quickly! Le Chat Noir are an awe-inspiring double act with destiny on their side. A match made in heaven and a sound forged in the fiery pits of hades. Like an outlaw with a score to settle, these pair o’ varmints gonna tear the place down. Get ready, little lady. Hell is comin' to town.

By Martin Kendrick

Label: Unsigned
www.myspace.com/chatnoirband
http://www.lechatnoir.org.uk/


LE CHAT NOIR - EXETER HUB 7/5/07 (gig review)

LE CHAT NOIR – INTERVIEW