Le Tetsuo ‘I
Understand If You Speak Slowly’
(Mummy Where’s the Milkman Records)
(Nov '04)
This art college trio sing in French at times, but this lead tune’s got the wayward aspect of a sea shanty by the Coral, and it’s dangerously-played garage rock. A cycle of freedom and restraint and multi-lingual vocals, reminding me most of old zine favourites Angelica: not their early ‘Teenage Girl Crush’ stuff, but the harder edge they had later. Tougher still are the remaining four tracks on this vinyl EP, which carry more of a classic-60s garage vibe and utilise male screams well. Short songs with long guitar solos! A good prospect. Complete with typically dirty lyrics and an acronym in its title, ‘Nickers Off Ready When I Come Home’ is a ‘Cannonball’ threatening to blow apart any time. Great. ‘Love Transmitter’ finishes slightly quieter, but with Charlie (girl) and Jack (boy) both on vocals, less harmonising than overlapping. Remember in music class when you used to sing a round, each little group singing the same bar at a different time? There’s an effect that should be used more often. “It’s just a message for the viewers at home” is what Le Tetsuo insist on telling us. And it seems the sound of a band captured in their early, ramshackle stages – the best place to catch a band, and if the band stays in that stage as long as they can, we’ll each have all the more rock ‘n’ roll fun.
