JUST US

I just realized that I am nearing the end of reviewing all of the Faust studio albums. After this one, I only have three more left to go. It really has been an interesting ride going back and diving deep into these albums. It is weirdly nostalgic looking back, even a little funny, with all of this starting because they decided to put up their first two records on Spotify. However, the ending may be near, but it certainly isn't here, and so I shall continue on with this light binging with their 15th studio effort, jUSt, or Just Us, which is what I will be using for this review.

Unlike records from the past few years, Just Us has probably one of the shortest line ups in any Faust discography, only containing Jean-Hervé Peron and Werner Diermeier. I don't quite know why it is only them, though it does make the album title a lot more accurate. As such, this is also one of their most minimalist sounding records since Disconnected, which can be considered as both a strength, and weakness for the album in my book.

I think Just Us only having two musicians is a pretty interesting concept that Faust tackles, creating these strange melodies and jams that feel lonely, whilst at the same time tightly knit together. I think the first half (Gerubelt - Nähmaschine) contains quite a number of strong tracks that play quite well into the more minimalist nature of the album, such as the oddly intense Sur le ventre, or the weirdly klezmer sounding Gammes. These tracks are all quite charming, and while not the peak of sound that Faust has done up until this point, I don't think this first side of the coin is anywhere bad.

Though that cannot be said for the second half. I think the 10th track's title describes my feelings of this half very well...eeeeeeh...It is kinda like Faust Z off of Faust Is Last, where it is a lot more experimental and droning. However, ooh boy, it is a lot rougher here. Where Faust Z was charming as it employed more of the introspective side of industrial music, this here, as it has very little to do with that genre entirely, comes out as a almost half baked attempt in making something similar. I do kinda like some tracks like Eeeeeeh..., Ich bin ein Pavian, and Ich sitze immer noch, but those first three songs on this second half are not very good in my opinion. I can get the vibes that they were going with these songs, and I know it must've been hard to workshop these tracks when you are really only a duo band, but still it boils down into musical grease.

In fact, Just Us does just feel like an attempt in making another Faust Is Last, without the industrial side of things. One half is the more normal krautrock tracks, and the other is weird droning experiments. As such it doesn't quite feel all that charming to me, since if I wanted to listen to something like Faust Is Last, I might just listen to Faust Is Last instead of this.

It is clear, though sad, that Faust isn't equipped to do the whole duo thing. Perhaps with time it could've led to another interesting era for the band, but Just Us does show it would take a long while for that idea to really work. I wish I enjoyed this more, especially since after C'est com... com... compliqué did give us a bit of a streak of great albums from the band. Well, if my memory serves right, the next three will not be half bad, but we'll wait and see.

Best tracks: Sur le ventre, Gammes

Worst tracks: Nur nous, Palpitations, Der Kaffee kocht