F4I3LESSE

Faiblesse had been for sure a quite solid debut by this band hailing from Grenoble but was on the other hand by far not as great and impressing as its follow-up. There aren't any doubts about the talents and skills of these musicians and one can find here as well a few very good tracks but overall this record suffers of a lack of inspiration in a way. At times one could describe the blend of styles presented here as "Crimson meets Pearl Jam or Noir Desir" depending whether the vocals are in English or French language. Of course the music sounds much more sophisticated than any work of those two grunge/punk bands, it's rather the voice of the singer (which isn't really spectacular BTW) bringing that comparison into one's mind. Strongest influence of this band seams to be Crimson and this fact is here much more obvious than on their second album "Ersatz", especially in the opening title track which could easily be as well by Anglagard if there wouldn't be the (sparse) French vocals. Though sounding highly derivative this one's still one of the better tracks of this disk which is mainly dominated by the two guitarists whereas keyboards have been used more as an atmospheric background. I couldn't say that there isn't any really bad track on here but as well not any really outstanding one. Worth mentioning might be the longest one "Loe" which sounds rather non-typical for them being fully acoustic with percussion. Other "highlights" might be "The Taste Of You" or "Dying For Religion" but not really spectacular on the other hand. To summarize my review, I would say this one's good enough for a solid 3 star rating! Not essential, but maybe an interesting purchase for those who enjoyed already "Ersatz" but don't expect a record that seduces to press immediately the replay button.