Papier Tigre - The Beginning And End Of Now

Along with Bordeaux, Nantes has been the main extra-parisian scene for French rock since the 1980s, with bands such as Little Bob or the less famous but nonetheless enthusiasting This Is Pop. All these artists come from very different backgrounds and their music range from folk-rock to electronica and neo-metal; but they all contributed to prove that it was possible to find a public and even to export oneself even when chosing to remain in a quiet provincial town. Papier Tigre emerged a few years ago in this same setting and are now ready to conquer the world – starting with France and the UK – with their second full-length album, ‘The Beginning and End of Now’.

Rough, raw, even brutal: their music is obsessing and violent, and their use of sounds interestingly disturbing. Though they have to do without a bass guitar (the three piece is made of two guitarists among which one vocalist, and a drummer), they definitely recall some of the darkest punk-metal bands of the 1970’s, especially Fugazi. A throbbing line coupled with a screaming singer give the album its sense of restlessness and of angst. There is something of Noir Désir in their way of coping with orchestration – a reference difficult to avoid when dealing with French rock, but often misused or miscontrued, while here Papier Tigre are certainly taking the best out of it.

‘Green Around The Hills’ is one of these songs you’ll keep in mind and that’ll make you feel bad – in a good sense – for a week. Woven on one desperate pattern, though avoiding mere repetition, it brings along with it the darkest of moods. Other titles though are more mainstream, for instance ‘Office Hours’, curiously sounding very much like the Arctic Monkeys: same energy, same themes (a powerless generation dancing to express its disdain for growing up), same emptiness.

The whole album is efficient and keeps its sense of sleeplessness from beginning to end. The screamo-like experiments get a bit tiring after a while though; but they also give a hint of the band’s reknown live acts.