Paris Suit Yourself - My Main Shitstain

A lot can be said for fearlessness; a musical characteristic especially appropriate in the case of French outfit Paris Suit Yourself. Hailing from Bordeaux, the three piece weave a unique myriad of varying styles that combined create a boundary breaking debut album; one that at times reaches incredible heights, but at others gets lost awkwardly quirky determination.

‘My Main Shitstain’ is bursting at the seams with an undeniably ferocious energy, an energy one that the album manages to an extent undermine through its total lack of tangible coherence. Whilst the fervor found throughout the album is delightfully refreshing, it is one that is constantly misguided and executed in such a nauseatingly testing manner, it leads to frustration more often than admiration. That’s not to say ‘My Main Shitstain’ is entirely inaccessible. Album highlight, and deeply emotional, ‘John’s Angles’ sees Luvinsky Atche swoon to vocal heights barely comparable to the inaudible growling prevalent in other tracks, with a stripped back musical accompaniment, the song is by far the most impressive, albeit straightforward, on the album.

If forgiven for its lack of immediacy, the album’s unique sound is to a degree one to be lauded. Seamlessly moving from French to English, from clear distinct vocals to indistinguishable howls, the vocals are not easily forgettable. It’s just not always that pleasurable to listen to. Yes it manages to encompass a great deal of vocal and musical styles, it just never seems to pull them off in a particularly harmonious manner. Tracks such as ‘Craig Machinsky’ and ‘Decadence’ slowly build up offering a great deal of promise as they do but are inevitably undone with the subsequent descent into mindless misdirection and nothingness. It’s a genuine shame as this is the case with many of the tracks, sections of which are incredibly engaging being undone by the musical landscape that surrounds them.

Whilst it’s easy to chastise the band for attempting to avoid pigeonholing and carve their own unique style, they do in fact succeed in doing just that, which is praiseworthy in itself. It is by no means an easily accessible album, far from it, in fact it’s one that takes a great of effort, but one that can none the less be admired for its complete disregard to conventions and in its attempt to push, bend and completely smash the envelope.