Concrete Knives – Live at Route du Rock; Winter – February 2018 – Gordon Skene Sound Collection –
After a few days of having the site down owing to some technical glitches guaranteed to drive you up the wall, we’re back and picking up where we left off. Last week it was Rock Without Borders and we got cut-off before we finished.
Okay, here’s what you missed when the site went down:
(Notes by Scott Kerr, who is a fan)
Hailing from the coastal town of Caen, France, Concrete Knives consisted of Nicolas Delahaye, Morgane Colas, Adrien Leprêtre, Augustin Hauville, and Guillaume Aubertin.
The quintet combined edgy art rock with pop hooks and sumptuous dance melodies, which were influenced by New Yorkers Yeah Yeah Yeahs and TV on the Radio, while they also drew comparison to fellow countrymen Phoenix and François & the Atlas Mountains. The male contingent of the band first began making music during their high school days in the late 2000s, yet it wasn’t until the arrival of Colas a few years later that the colorful sound of the band began to blend together. The five-piece’s first release came in the form of EP You Can’t Blame the Youth through Family Tree records in 2011. Their sparkling live shows won rave reviews from critics, and a legion of fans soon gathered . Also drawn by their enigmatic stage presence was English indie label Bella Union — which subsequently signed them for their debut full-length — and BBC Radio 6 Music presenter Steve Lamacq, who named them one of “New Favorite Bands” in 2012. That year, their album Be Your Own King was first released in France and then appeared throughout the rest of Europe not long after. ~ Scott Kerr
Okay – so you might have missed them. They are continuing a tour of France this June, so it’s hard to say where they will wind up. But clearly, they have a fan base and that’s a good thing to have, especially now. Crank it up and enjoy and check out their releases and snap up a few.
