The Young Gods - L'Eau Rouge

The Red Water; what a charming reference to menstruation. Now I have no idea why it has taken so long for me to come back around to posting more Young Gods…L’Eau Rouge the second studio album by The Young Gods was released in September 1989. It is usually referred to as their masterpiece and was included in “1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die” in 2005. Everything snaps into focus on L’Eau Rouge which is far more assured and coherent but still just as shocking as the debut. Thundering guitars dominate many tracks (Treichler has not inaccurately referred to the album as “metal cabaret”) but the group also brings in crazed Shostakovich samples, the whipcrack grind of “L’Amourir” and some quaintly sinister Kurt Weill-isms (???) "La Fille de la Mort" begins this album so perfectly that it becomes immediately clear how much more striking the already powerful band had become; beginning with a simple boulevardier melody and lyric (even though, as the title indicates, it's about the daughter of Death!), it slowly but relentlessly builds over the course of eight minutes, suddenly bursting into a beautiful orchestral sample loop that is then staggered and distorted, punctuated by sharp drums and finally concluding with guitar pulses on top of that. It's a stunning, unique way to start, and the album easily lives up to that opening promise. Tracks like the fast-paced roar "Longue Route" and the title song maintain a fierce, sharp tension between rock rhythms (new drummer Use Hiestand shows much more flexibility than his predecessor), huge riffs and classical stabs, all with Treichler's powerful, gravelly voice invoking any number of striking natural and elemental images, putting the lie to the claim that rock can't happen in French. There's even time for more traditional French cabaret tunes like "Charlotte," while "Les Enfants" takes the classical bombast to an even higher level. Originally available only as a single, "L'Amourir" remains the album's and the band's high point, a brilliantly arranged and performed combination of guitar riff samples and powerful drumming, accentuated by a snaky bass pulse/snort throughout and Treichler's climactic roar over a wailing guitar loop.

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1. La Fille de la Mort

2. Rue des Tempêtes

3. L’Eau Rouge

4. Charlotte

5. Longue Route

6. Crier les Chiens

7. Ville Nôtre

8. Les Enfants

9. L’Amourir (1995 re-issue only)

10. Pas Mal (1995 re-issue only)